Off-Worlder
by Sceptic62
Summary: Scion was worried. Well, as much as he could be worried all things considered. Something was on Earth Bet. Something disgustingly strong. The Warrior was apprehensive. And The Universe was scheming. AU.
1. Chapter 1

How long had it been? He no longer knew. He raised his hand to his face, eyes carefully roving over the white outlines that represented his physical existence. He scrutinized the small pinpricks of light that dotted across the surface of his palm. One motion would end the billions of lifeforms that lived in the galaxy that dotted his right thumb. His existence used to be so simple. Go to school, get good grades, save the day, drink a smoothie. How many years had it been since he first saved the universe? He no longer remembered. He only knew his age at the time. He was ten years old. His eyes drifted to his right. Another being similar to him rested there, forever meditating. Female in form, she would never move from her place in the Forge. The dual personalities perpetually debating. He had long since quelled the debate in himself, but often he wondered whether the power was worth it. Brutus and Serena had faded long ago. Their explanation had been like their relationship, rocky at best, but it was simple. Once a Celestialsapien achieved true enlightenment, the power was theirs to command. It never happened before in all known memory. At least, not after the Forge of Creation existed. However, even with all this power, there were limits imposed implicitly by the others around him. He flexed his hands in anger. The last memories of his family were all he had left to remember his previous life. He never realized how carefully Brutus had chosen his last words before his consciousness faded to join the greater collective in the Forge.

"Remember, the weak mourn for the lives they cannot live. The strong, mourn, and move on. You have earned this power, and there is none other I would trust the fate of the universe to. It will be a heavy burden, yes, but you have proven to be stronger than even I could have ever imagined." The young Celestialsapien frowned. He was not strong. He was weak. Oh so very weak. He wanted his existence to end, to join his loved ones in the afterlife that was wrenched from his very grasp. He wanted to turn back time, to relive the moments that created him and stop himself from ever taking up the mantle of hero. He was bitter. Countless eons of loneliness and longing destroyed his will and spirit. A stray thought entered his mind. Then, a plan. Of course. Of course, he thought. His hand tore across the fabric of reality, tearing apart the small shell that encapsulated dimensions. He stepped through, hell bent on bringing his plan to fruition.

For once in her high school life, Taylor Hebert was having a good day. In fact, she was actually skipping along the pavement as she walked home. She didn't see Sophia, Madison, and Emma the whole day! Even their stupid little followers didn't say a single word. Apparently, they had some sort of joint "career exploration" trip for the next two days, and for once, they actually forgot to make extra plans for their absence. The thought made her somber up as she approached her house door. Even though she was only in her freshman year of high school, her life was something she'd thought was only possible on television. She was harshly bullied. Smear campaigns, whispers in the hallways, and general ostracization. In fact, it wasn't a far stretch to call it a rudimentary psychological attack, Taylor thought as she stepped into the living room. Her dad, Danny Hebert, wasn't home yet. His job as a Dockworker's Union representative often kept him late. Even then, Taylor knew that he came home even later because of other issues. Her dad never drank before her mom, Annette Hebert, died. The death of her mother had caused the man to collapse. Before, he was a somewhat scraggly man, but a happy one. He was a fountain of enthusiasm and what Taylor called a "go get'em" attitude. Now, he was little more than a walking skeleton. Taylor frowned, it wasn't right to call him that. He was still trying his best, she thought to herself. And she'd keep trying with him, she thought morosely. She walked up the stairs, and plopped herself in the chair at her desk.

"Hello." A dual toned voice said, a mix of what seemed to be a young man and one much older. Taylor responded in kind.

"Hi." It took her five seconds to realize what she responded to. Taylor froze in her seat at her realization and slowly turned around. She looked at the human shaped black figure in the corner of her room. Her mind made many different realizations at once. One, some guy, because that was definitely a guy given his cut and... impressive build, was in her room. Two, that guy was a cape, because she doubted anyone in their right mind would wear something like that without being a cape. It literally looked like he took the night sky and turned it into a costume for christ's sake! Three, a guy cape, of unknown origin, was standing in her bedroom and lazily playing with her curtains. Taylor slowly reached into her back pocket for her pepper spray, preparing to hit him and run for the phone downstairs. He looked away from the curtain he was playing with, his gaze wandering until his solid green eyes settled on her.

"The pepper spray is a pretty good idea for thugs, and maybe some weaker capes of Earth Bet. But I'm not exactly a thug, and I'm certainly not weak." The dual toned voice said again, amused and whimsical at the same time. Taylor could almost see the amused smile through his mask, almost as if he was jokingly scolding a child. She stopped going for the spray, her hand slowly retreating from her jeans pocket to her lap. If he could tell she was reaching for it, and still managed to be amused she shouldn't even bother trying or else he might decide on not being amused anymore. She withdrew her thoughts to herself quickly, trying to figure out how the hell to get out of this situation. Scrambling for time, she just blurted out the first thing she had in mind.

"Earth Bet? Do you mean you're from Earth Aleph? I thought they didn't have capes there." He turned to her and tilted his head, as if he was pondering something amusing.

"Not exactly." Was his short response. She could feel him smirking at her, as if he was superior. In the back of her mind, she knew he was, as they were called parahumans for a reason, but that still didn't make the situation any better. She took the thread of the conversation and pulled. Anything to keep him talking and occupied so she could have more time to think.

"Are you here to rob us? Cause as you can see, we're not exactly well off." This time he actually paused in his movements. His eyes bored into her, his stare searching through what Taylor felt like was her very soul.

"No. I am here to ask a question." His response carried an air of indignity, almost as if he was offended. Oh. Ooooh, he was offended. In the midst of her panic, it never occurred to Taylor that he could be a rogue, or even a hero. The realization still didn't answer why an extra dimensional cape was playing with her curtains, but the thought of him at least not being a villain soothed her frayed nerves a bit.

"Well, if you come back in a few hours, my dad will-" Taylor was cut off by the raised hand of the cape.

"Let me rephrase that. I am here to ask you a question." Taylor's breath hitched in confusion, trying to figure out if there was anything she had done recently that would draw the attention of what had to be a powerful cape. Seeing no response, the man continued.

"What do you think of Heroes, Ms. Hebert ?" What, like the Protectorate? She supposed she was grateful, and she honestly thought they were cool. Using their powers to protect those weaker than them, willingly fighting the nightmare fuel that were Endbringers, and even the public persona appearances they held up to greet the civilians. Miss Militia was her favorite, with Armsmaster being a close second. And, maybe if she were a hero, no other poor girl would have to go through the same pain her family did. Taylor told the man as much, save for the last part.

The man hummed in thought, his odd dual voice breaking the silence in Taylor's bedroom. He stepped a bit closer, away from the window on the other side of the room, and Taylor could finally get a good look at him. To simply put, his costume was beautiful. No seams, stitches, and not a single break in its pattern. But, what was truly breathtaking, was its effect and impression. Taylor felt like she was staring down the very universe as he walked up to examine her, the odd white outline of his body creating a pronounced effect with the pattern of stars.

"Would you like to be a Hero, Ms. Hebert?" She snapped away to look him in the eyes. They were narrowed, and calculating. He was serious. He. Was. Serious. Taylor was having trouble breathing. Why her? Why a random 14 year old girl? She wasn't stunning in the looks department. She wasn't ugly, she knew as much from the occasional glances she got while walking around, but she wasn't someone who drew attention. And charisma? Confidence? Heroic traits? She was bullied! If she had charisma she wouldn't even be in Winslow. If she had confidence she wouldn't be swimming around in self loathing every other hour. If she was heroic… If she was heroic, she could have saved her mother. So why? Why!?

"Why?" Her voice started as a whisper. She slowly gained traction as she took deeper breaths trying to steady herself.

"Why me?" She continued, starting to stand up. The culmination of self loathing and torture finally bringing to the forefront of her mind thoughts that she tried to bury deep inside her mind.

"What the hell makes you think I would be a good hero?" She was nearly screaming and crying at the end. The stress of her thoughts breaking through her composure.

"I see many things, Ms. Hebert. I can see the present, the past, and all the paths of the future, in perfect clarity. And when I look at you, I see a young girl, down on her luck. Bruised, beaten, treated like trash by the world around her. But not broken. Your father is broken. A man living a half life. Yet, even with the social torture you go through daily, you have not faltered. That doggedness is powerful. More powerful than any Brute. More creative than any Tinker. So, I ask you again, Ms. Hebert. Would. You. Like. To. Be. A. Hero?" He held his hand out at the end, offering it to her in acceptance. Taylor was still wiping her tears. Trying to get a handle on her sobbing she simply nodded, not trusting her words, and placed her hand in his. The man nodded. And in the back of his mind, one sentence range true. All according to plan.


	2. Chapter 2

Taylor spent a few more minutes to gather her emotions before continuing the conversation. It was a lapse in control, she knew, but the pressure of keeping everything bottled since her mother's death had finally released. She looked back to the cape, searching his expression for any sign of judgement. However, as before, his face was completely devoid of any emotion, besides what appeared to be a listless interest in her. Maybe he was reconsidering based on her breakdown? An emotional breakdown probably didn't help her chances now that she thought about it. His next few words disproved her though.

"Are you ready to continue our discussion?" Taylor nodded. She watched as he held his hand out, and in a flash, of what she could only describe as black light with a white outline, appeared a small metal sphere.

"As you know, heroes are rated on a multitude of scales, and talents." He said as he lifted the sphere up. Taylor watched as the top half collapsed in on itself, much like a telescope, to reveal... a watch?

"Right. Stuff like Brute, Tinker, Thinker, etc. And they're rated from 1-10 right?" She asked, trying to confirm what she remembered from her parahuman studies class. Her eyes stayed glued to the watch, trying to discern its purpose as he pulled it out of its container. It was fairly modern in design, she supposed, if a bit bulky. A small band of black composed the base, outlined and detailed in white geometrical shapes. On the face, seemed to be a small protection plate, also detailed by black and white. He gently held it out to her, and she accepted. Holy hell! This thing weighed like 4 pounds! Taylor's shocked expression obviously showed, if the dual toned chuckle that echoed in the room meant anything. She blushed in response, and tried to hide her embarrassment by inspecting the watch. She turned it over in her hands, not noticing anything weird besides its weight. There was an inscription on the back that she couldn't read, due to it being in some weird language consisting of bold curved script. When she got to the face, she realized that it had a little give when she pressed it. Flicking it over, she saw a small hourglass shape, with a white center resting in place of a watch face. She looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, parahumans have those ratings. Heroes where I come from aren't necessarily all parahumans, but those descriptions are apt. The device you are holding was created by my own mentor. He created it to promote peace through the galaxy by creating understanding. A series of unfortunate events led it to me. It was this watch that started me on the path of becoming a hero." There was a lying undertone beneath the nostalgia that Taylor couldn't identify, but she from what she could tell he was being totally honest. Seeing his expectant gaze, she strapped the watch on to her left wrist. All of a sudden, a cool sensation rushed out from the watch, and she could feel it almost sink into her skin. She began panicking until a digitized voice rang out.

"Genetic lock engaged. Omnimatrix calibrations completed. Recognizing User: Taylor Hebert." Taylor looked down at the watch. From its protective screen, a multitude of options came up on a holographic semi-circle display. Reigning in her giddyness, she looked over the options. From what Taylor could see, there was a symbol for communication, an actual digital timer, and some other functions. However, what intrigued her the most was the humanoid shape icon. She tapped it, and a new menu came up. A multitude of different beings filled the semi-circle, all definitively not human. She scrolled through the outrageous creatures, passing a tiger, what looked like a cricket, and even a tadpole. She moved to tap the one that resembled the man in front of her, a female form that had the same sort of tri-prong crown and starry design. Before she could, his dual tone voice rang out.

"Ah, right. I almost forgot. Omnimatrix, voice command." The watch beeped in acknowledgement before responding.

"What is your command Creator Celestial?" Celestial? Well, Taylor supposed his cape name definitely fit his theme. Though, voice command? That surprised her even more.

"Restrict DNA library to the initial ten please." The watch beeped, Taylor watched as all the forms flew by her face, a lock icon appearing on each one before flying through again.

"One million and nine hundred and one DNA samples restricted Creator Celestial." Taylor stared at the watch in shock. Over a million DNA samples?! She still had no clue what the watch did, but from what she had gathered so far it was pretty obvious this was some high level tinker tech. Maybe it super charged her DNA with whatever these creatures naturally had? She supposed having a tiger's grace and agility would be pretty cool. She looked back at the cape she now knew was Celestial with a questioning gaze.

"Just a simple restriction that will be lifted over time. That much of an informational dump would reduce your ability to actually learn from the information you would be given." She nodded before scrolling through what she now had available. She supposed it made sense. If even one of those represented just one ability, she would be sitting there for years trying to decipher them. As Celestial had said, there were only 10 creatures available currently. She selected the first one on the list and closed her eyes in anticipation. A few seconds later, realizing nothing happened, she opened her eyes and looked around trying to figure out what went wrong. Noticing Celestial's gaze on the watch, she realized that a small button had lifted from the hour glass face. She quickly pushed it down and this time she felt a major difference. She could feel her fingers morph together, and her skull structure change. Her body was also elongating, and she felt something protrude out of her back side. As soon as she felt the changes stop, she examined herself. Holy crap! Her skin was blue, and her fingers morphed into 3 talons! She couldn't see much else beyond her change in clothing, so she rushed over to her bathroom. Celestial watched, preparing for the inevitable.

"WooooaAAoooH!" She was FAST. And she was slipping!

"Ooph," Taylor grunted as she felt a muscled arm grab her around her waist. She looked sheepily at her savior, smiling in thanks before this time taking much more care to go at a normal pace. What stared back at her in the mirror was amazing. She became some sort of fusion between a prehistoric dinosaur and an Olympic sprinter. Looking down, she then noticed her tail, which was lightly wrapped around her lower waist, and the odd looking balls that her feet rested on. She took a much more protracted look at her face afterwards. Her eyes didn't have any protection from the wind speeds apparently? They blinked, but they didn't have the layer that most reptiles had evolved to protect themselves from the elements. She was confused, because she was completely sure that the speeds she was just running at in her room would have at the very least caused her eyes to water. Just as she thought more on it, a face mask slammed down from the top of what she thought was a helmet.

"That's so cool." Her voice came out somewhat raspy, as though her vocal cords hadn't been used in a while. Or that the language she was speaking wasn't a perfect fit. She still couldn't hide the awe in her voice, though. She turned to Celestial who simply hummed non-committedly.

"So what am I? Besides, ya know, a super speed dinosaur?" She asked, giddy to find out more about her new powers.

"Kineceleran. Natives to the planet Kinet. A reptilian race that evolved directly alongside their technology, creating a species capable of moving at extreme speeds and compensating for physical inefficiencies using their natural-born tech. According to the Parahuman system of measurement, Thinker 1, Mover 10, Shaker 2." So many questions popped into Taylor's head at that moment.

"Natives to a planet? That means somewhere out there this dinosaur actually existed? And Shaker 2?" Celestial nodded.

"They still exist. And their home planet is somewhere in the third quadrant of the Milky Way if I remember correctly. In fact, almost all species in the Omnitrix still exist, with a rare few being extinct. It's actually a catalog of almost every single sentient species in the galaxy. The Shaker rating is because Kincelerans can directly affect the force of friction on their bodies." Taylor simply ignored the massive bomb that Celestial dropped on her. She was already having enough trouble coming to terms with the fact that she was gonna be a hero, let alone a hero using powers from outer space!

"So, ignoring the whole "aliens are real" thing, Kinecelerans are naturally born in the top class of speedsters?" Taylor asked. Celestial shook his head.

"No, they are the top class of speedsters. Only one species is faster than it, and even then it doesn't have the sheer maneuverability that Kinecelerans have due to their friction manipulation. They're actually considered one of the universe's best assassins, because very few species can perceive the speed they move at. Combined with their natural lethality, they're highly sought after for their efficiency." Taylor blanched. He was right she supposed. Being that fast and armed with what appeared to be talons capable of shredding steel probably would make a species appear hyper lethal. Taylor heard a car door slam outside. Crap, she didn't even realize it had been that long! Still in her Kineceleran form, she ran downstairs and out the door. She stopped when she realized her dad wasn't moving at all. In fact, as she looked around outside the house, nothing was moving.

"In your panic, you triggered the Kineceleran's natural hyper processing. Everything's still moving at the same speed, you're just processing and moving at a speed multitude magnitudes faster than it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your father probably thinks that you're a trick of light considering your current speed." Taylor stared wide eyed at Celestial.

"Wait, I thought you said that Kinecelerans were the top class of speedsters? How are you keeping up?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm faster." Taylor stared at him.

"That's not an explanation." He shrugged again.

"It's good enough for me. Now come on, we gotta get this sorted out while we can still abuse your hyper processing." He turned around and moved back towards the house, motioning for her to follow. Taylor took one look around at the frozen world. It still seemed so surreal to her. Once they reached her room, he closed the door and turned to her once more.

"To change back, you can either use the voice command, or tap the Omnitrix's center symbol on your chest. Rotating the dial then tapping lets you select the next alien in the queue. Now, after you change back, don't be surprised and follow my lead. Got it?" Taylor nodded. Quickly tapping the dial on her chest, she felt a cooling sensation before once again the world seemed to speed up. The birds outside her window were moving, and the leaves were rustling. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. That was certainly far more taxing than she realized. Another black flash blinded her from where Celestial was standing. Once she got her sense of sight back, she turned to ask him what it was about. Only to find another human standing there. A fine human at that. His brown hair was tossed about lightly, and his green eyes met her own. His face was handsome, it had an air of boyish and roguish charm to it. His attire consisted of a white pair of tight jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black jacket with white stripes running down one side. He winked at her and smiled. Taylor's brain fried a little.

"Follow my lead right?" Taylor couldn't trust herself to speak so she nodded. How the hell did a hero from some other dimension turn into a hot guy a few years older than her?!

"Taylor, I'm home!" Her dad shouted from downstairs. Before she could answer, Celestial answered for her.

"Hey, Mr. Hebert, we're up here!" He called down the stairs. She could hear her dad pause for a second, then rush up the stairs in a slightly alarmed manner. He opened the door quickly, and while he still looked a bit haggard from work, he seemed to be a bit off. The smell of alcohol quickly made its way into the room. She wrinkled her nose.

"Everything alright up here Taylor?" He asked her, motioning towards the boy sitting on her bed. He didn't seem to be too drunk this time, considering he didn't just pass out in the couch like he usually did. It warmed her heart a little bit to see that he still had enough presence of mind to do something like this.

"Y-Y-yeah. Everything's fine, dad." God, she was still blushing up a storm from the random encounter and she didn't even realize. Taylor hoped this was the last surprise today, because there's no way her heart could handle any more of this.

"If you're sure. Ah, how can I forget, I'm Danny Hebert, nice to meet you...?" Her dad held his hand out to Celestial, prompting him to introduce himself.

"Ben. Ben Tennyson. It's nice to meet you too Mr. Hebert." He responded in kind and gave her dad a firm handshake, before continuing.

"I'm your daughter's tutor until her grades at school improve." What? What?! Taylor's dad looked right at her, confused.

"I didn't know her grades were slipping. But either way, I'm not sure if we can really afford a tutor with our current financial situation." Her dad sighed, once again looking defeated. She looked back to Celestial, or was it Ben, for help. He simply smiled and winked again.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Sometimes when people have a change in environment the stress gets to them a bit. And, I'm doing this pro-bono. I'm actually a college student that lives nearby. It's part of a program to get some credit towards some of my majors." Taylor looked amazed. Ben's capability of spinning a story was next level. Especially considering she could barely lie without flinching. Her dad relaxed a bit at hearing the part about it being pro-bono.

"That's a load off my shoulders. But are you sure you don't want some compensation? I mean, we don't really have any cash on hand, but I have some connections that you could use to get some internships?" Her dad ventured. Taylor knew he was relieved that the "tutoring" was free, but even still, Danny Hebert was a man who prided himself on fairness. Taylor slowly lost herself in thought as the conversation was droning on about college life and fraternity chapters and the like. A hero, huh? The conversation in the background was somewhat relevant she thought. Could she balance her current school life with being a hero? And could she trust herself to not abuse her powers? Like Ben said, Kinecelerans were the perfect assassins. And while she sure as hell wasn't going to hurt anybody, that kind of anonymity was dangerous, you know?

"Taylor? Taylor?" She quickly snapped back to the conversation.

"Huh, yeah Cele-I mean Ben?" She spotted the slight downturn of his lips before it corrected itself back into a smile. Her dad hadn't noticed. Ouch. Not even first day on the job and she already messed up.

"Your dad and I got everything sorted out. So we'll begin our tutoring sessions in two days from now." She nodded in response. What about her powers? And how did her dad not even notice the Omnitrix on her wrist?

"I'll pick you up from your school, you go to Winslow right?" She knew Ben already knew, but she merely hummed in affirmation to keep up appearances. He smiled and nodded.

"Cool." He turned away, walking with her dad out the door of her room and down the stairs. After he left the room, Taylor turned back to actually do the homework she was assigned today. It would be nice to get some normalcy out of the day before going back to bed right? Instead, Ben popped his head back from around the frame of her door.

"Oh, almost forgot. Be sure to practiced everything we learned today. Everything. I'll quiz you on it our next session, kay?" He pointedly looked at her left wrist. Taylor got the message. Train and acclimate, we'll see how much you can do in two days. Simple enough she supposed.

"See ya later then!" He waved, and walked back down the stairs, while continuing to randomly chat up her dad. She looked once more at the Omnitrix. Kinecelerans huh? In any other world, if she had just those powers, she'd already be in competition for one of the strongest capes in the world due to sheer synergy of the powers alone. But one power set out of ten? She dialed up on the Omnitrix. Might as well get started with set number one she supposed. What should she call this form anyways? Kineceleran was a mouthful and not exactly inspiring as a hero name. Maybe Velociraptor? Nah, too cheesy and it screamed villain and violence. Velocity was already taken by a hero in the Brockton Bay Protectorate. Something to do with the powers specific to this alien. Hah! She got it. She slammed down on the Omnitrix's activation core, and felt the changing sensation once more. Her voice came out as raspy as before, but with a much more positive inflection.

"Time to take XLR8 out for a test drive." Hey, being a hero required bad one liners.

 **A/N: First AN of this story. Yay. This is gonna be a bit spoilerish so feel free to skip to the next linebreak.**

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 **So basically, this is a pretty obvious conclusion to make. Taylor gets the Omnitrix, Ben has a master plan to remove his powers as a Celestialsapien. Yada Yada. But, one of the main things I love about the Celestialsapien concept is the same reason I love the concept of Superman. Some heroes are just so strong that they are literally gods to those below them. So, the struggle of writing them, isn't about whether they can beat some unbelievable villain like it is with Batman outwitting someone, but rather, is it right to beat them? Is it right to use the power to influence others? Basically, Ben is still Ben, but bitterness has tainted his world view. Over the course of this story, I hope to challenge Ben's contempt of immortality with his overwhelming sense of duty and morality.**

* * *

 **Yay spoilers. I'll try to update when I can, this is a pretty early update only cause I felt like the previous chapter was more a prologue if anything. Next chapter we'll get into the meaty stuff, and perhaps a nod to Feedback if you catch my drift.**


	3. Chapter 3

For Ben Tennyson, the day was a far cry from the monotony that was now his life. It wasn't often that he had an excuse for being in human form, and he personally found it refreshing. His powers over perception and his sense of omniscience were drastically toned down when he was outside his Celestialsapien body. He hummed absentmindedly while stirring the smoothie he was drinking. The salty scent of the sea that wafted from the ocean behind him quelled his appetite a tad. He was never that fond of swimming after the Krakken. But, having tastebuds for the first time in the past few centuries quickly trounced any thought of leaving the boardwalk stall he was sitting at. He flagged down one of the stall attendants. His power chimed in the back of his head. Two attendants. Red hair. Sisters. They squabbled with each other before the older one strolled over to his side of the counter while the younger one pouted in the background.

"Hey, like, so what can I get for you?" She said while smiling. Her voice matched the Northeastern staccato that he had gotten used to. Peppy and short. She wore a blue visor, and had her hair styled over the back in a ponytail. The shack's logo, a smoothie cup with arms and legs, was proudly displayed on her solid yellow tee, which was tied up in a knot above her belly button. The girl finished her look off with a pair of jean short shorts and some flat top sneakers. All in all, he thought it was pretty trendy. He smiled in greeting.

"You guys have chili fries here right?" He asked. Man, he hadn't had chili fries since his twenty third birthday. Something about how heroes of the universe shouldn't set bad examples by eating trash. Sounds like something Gwen would say, he affirmed with himself.

"U-u-uh, um, yeah, we got those. 4.95 a basket." She stumbled over her words before coyly looking away. He nodded, pulling out his wallet and handing her a five dollar bill. She snatched the currency, and rushed her way to the cash register, before tallying up the order, all while ignoring the prodding of her sister. He watched her take the receipt and quickly scribble something on the back and put it in her pocket as she walked over and handed him his change.

"Your order will be out in a few minutes, here's your change. Sorry about the wait." She regained some of her peppyness from earlier he noted. He simply nodded before stirring his smoothie a bit more. A few moments later, he realized that the waitress still hadn't left. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow as he drank some more from his straw. She was idly playing with her hair, and chewing the bottom of her lip.

"Is there something you need?" Ben asked.

"Ah!" She jolted, before responding.

"No! I was just, like wondering, um, why I haven't seen you around the docks or on BBU campus?" She tapered off near the end. In the background he idly noticed the younger sister shaking her head with her face in her palms.

"I actually go to university up in Boston, but the rent's cheap in the Bay, and I've got some volunteer work down here." He watched her nod quickly in response, before she continued the conversation.

"That's cool. That's cool. So, like, have you seen much of Brockton yet?" She asked, hand still playing with the end of her ponytail. He shook his head.

"No, not really, just moved in last week. And I had to meet with the volunteer group and get everything setup and all that." He clarified. She hummed a bit, shifting her weight back and forth on her feet.

"So, if you haven't seen much, I mean, there's a lot of cool places, but, uh, I could, like-" She was cut off by the vibrating noise from Ben's pocket. He pulled out his phone, and quickly scanned the messages. He looked at his watch. Huh, 12 hours. Better than he was when he first started.

"Sorry about that, but something just came up with my volunteer work. They're a bit understaffed right now and need some help. Think I can get those fries to go?" The waitress nodded, stepping from the counter over to the small doorway that led to the kitchen. Her sister walked in after her. Ben sighed in relief. That was not a situation he wanted to deal with. The waitress returned, a bag of fries in her hand, and a look of determination on her face.

"Receipt's in the bag. Let me know if you need any help finding things in Brockton, kay?" Ben nodded, taking the fries, and leaving the stand. He looked around. Now, where could he disappear to without causing a fuss? Ah, perfect. He briskly walked down the boardwalk. He bumped into two men while walking towards his destination.

"Hey!" Solid red sneakers, green shirt, bottles of green and red spray paint at the hip.

"Watch it!" Green bandanna, red wifebeater, and a dragon tattooed on his right bicep.

Ben ignored them, strolling along before ducking into an alley. He tossed the weapons he telekinetically pilfered from the two gang members into a dumpster on his right. Then, he closed his eyes and disappeared in his unique flash once more.

* * *

Celestial opened his eyes on the massive coast side PRT base. He looked around, startled soldiers were aiming their weapons at him. He folded his arms. He would have looked imposing he supposed, if not for the chili fries in a logo'd bag in his left hand.

"Hold your fire!" A young man's voice shouted from the entrance to the base. Celestial looked him over. Gunmetal gray power suit, and a firm stance. Gallant, he noted. Even in his armor, Gallant still stood about a head shorter than Celestial. Gallant held his hand out.

"Gallant. I suppose you're Celestial?" The young man asked politely. Celestial nodded, and kept his arms folded, staring down the Wards member. Gallant fidgeted a bit. Eventually he retracted the proffered limb and nodded.

"Uh. Right. Okay. Sorry about the not so warm reception, but when XLR8 or Upgrade, or whatever she calls herself, mentioned a mentor that wasn't in the PRT database at all, we had to assume the worst as a precaution." Gallant trailed off at the end. Celestial simply stared him down for a few moments longer before nodding acutely. Gallant sighed out a breath of relief, and motioned for the soldiers to stand down. He turned around, and walked into the building as Celestial followed. All the while, escorted by a team of PRT soldiers.

"She's being held in the conference room, which is just standard protocol. All minors that are independent heroes are required to undergo government facilitated checks and prerequisites in order to not be labelled vigilantes." Gallant stated. Probably fed to him by some administrative figure, Celestial noted to himself.

"We didn't take her real name or anything, wouldn't get many independents in the door otherwise." Gallant joked, trying to lighten the mood. Seeing no response, he awkwardly cleared his throat, before taking a left and opening the first door in the hallway. Conference room was a bit of an overstatement, Celestial mused. It was a medium sized room, steel colored through and through. The only furniture in the room was a slightly longer than average table and seven chairs. A small camera was mounted to the opposite ceiling corner with a microphone. Not exactly a setting one would imagine where the world's protectors would hold their meetings. At the far end of the table sat his protege, cradling her head in her arms while mumbling to herself. Gallant knocked on the doorway. Immediately, Taylor's head shot up. Apparently, they had given her a green domino mask to protect her identity. However, she was still dressed in her casual clothes. He should probably fix that, he thought idly.

"Celestial I-" Celestial raised his hand, stopping her. He motioned towards Gallant, asking him to leave them. Gallant simply nodded.

"One of my superiors will be here in a few minutes to handle the necessary paperwork, and you'll be free to go after that." Celestial thanked him for his time, and Gallant left with the PRT soldiers in tow. He turned to face Taylor, and sat down at the opposite end of the table. Then, the girl exploded in a combination of apologies and explanations. Eventually, she collapsed back into a tired pile on the table. Celestial sighed.

"How long have they held you here?" A muffled response was all he heard.

"No, I'm not mad. Annoyed that I have to deal with the PRT so soon? Yes. Hungry because I couldn't finish my lunch? A little. But, no, I'm not mad. You're just a child, my dear student, and I'd be a poor excuse for a teacher if I was mad at you for making a mistake in judgement. I am a bit disappointed that you would disregard your safety and education so carelessly though." He explained calmly. Celestial was being honest. She certainly held up better than he did when he first got the Omnitrix. Hell, he wasn't even remorseful when he used it as a tool for less than morally upstanding reasons. He still remembers the tongue lashing he got from his grandfather for one of his more dangerous stunts. Taylor pulled her head out of the nest that her arms made. A small stream of tears was visible on her cheek.

"So you're not mad?" He shook his head.

"As long as you have understood and learned from the experience, which you have, I have no reason to be angry." She wiped her tears away and steadied her breath.

"Okay." She smiled a little. That was good. Her confidence seemed to have been restored, albeit a small amount. He placed the chili fries on the table.

"They're a bit cold, but nothing beats comfort food." Taylor graciously accepted the fries. She tore into them at a speed that would make a Gourmand green with envy. Well, greener he supposed. A few minutes later, Taylor spoke up again.

"Who's Anne, and why does she want you to call her?" He blanched.

"No clue." Taylor raised an eyebrow.

"The note's addressed to your non-cape identity." He stared at her. She stared back.

"I could make some cruel and unusual form of torture as the basis for our first training session. And given what's happened here today I'd be totally justified." He watched Taylor tilt her head back and forth, considering his words.

"Shutting up now."

"That's what I thought." He looked her over once more. While she seemed to have recovered on the outside, she was still obviously shaken up about the whole experience. Best to distract her.

"How about a word game while we wait?" He asked.

"What kind?" He may have been the equivalent of a god, but even Celestial needed to get his amusement somehow.

* * *

Hannah hummed to herself as she walked down the hallway towards room two-thirty-five. She adjusted the folder in her right hand carrying the documents that needed to be signed by the prospective Ward. As she approached the room, she could hear conversation from the opposite side. Muted laughter rung through the doorway, but certainly not the girl's. It was definitely a man's voice, perhaps mid twenties? She assumed it was the mentor that apparently intimidated Gallant into a wreck. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She prepared to knock, before a voice rang through the door.

"Come in." Definitely the mentor. Perhaps a low Thinker rating or something similar, if he could sense her. She opened the door, and was somewhat startled by what she saw on the other side. On one hand, there was the prospective Ward, a highly rated changer who apparently had _at least_ two forms that could, by themselves, put her in competition as one of the Protectorates strongest capes. Her mentor, was obviously a professional, given just his appearance and the minor actions he took to assert himself in the dominant position for this meeting. Which did beg the question as to how a professional, villain or hero, was unmentioned in the PRT database search. Though what startled her the most, was the raging blush the girl was sporting, and the positively animalistic growl that was coming from her mouth. Her teacher on the other hand, was apparently trying to hold in a fit of chuckles.

"Excuse me? Is this a bad time? I could come in again in a few minutes." Best to be professional, and re-establish the conference room as a neutral ground.

"No, it's fine Miss Commando, my student and I were just playing a word game." Hmm, dismissal of her hero title could probably be construed as an aggressive action, but given the fact that he looked like he was about to double over laughing, she assumed it was just a slip of the tongue. If possible, the growling from the girl became even louder. She turned to speak to the girl.

"Hi, my name is Miss Militia. How are you today?" Polite. Professional. It calmed the girl down at the very least. And the other cape calmed his laughter down to just a few chortles. He approached her first.

"Celestial." It was as though an iron wall just crashed in front of her. She couldn't get a single read on him. Hannah was astounded. One moment, he was laughing nearly to the point of tears, and the next, he was as professional as a politician, if a bit abrupt. The man, now introduced as Celestial, turned to the girl and nodded.

"Hi, I'm his student. I don't really have a cape name yet, but I guess you could just call me by the name of the form you guys found me in, XLR8?" Hannah nodded. She read the report. The reptilian form that was fast enough to out pace even Vista's shaker ability. She shook the girl's hand, and smiled.

"I'm actually a big fan of yours. You're one of the reasons I wanted to be a hero Miss Comman-I mean, Miss Militia." Hannah noticed the slip of the tongue, but didn't mention it. She seemed genuine enough. But the dawning look of mortification was somewhat out of place, and Celestial let slip his guise of steel to let out a short snort.

"Very well, nice to meet you too, Accelerate." Though, wasn't there a hero in Nevada with that name? Something along the lines of vector manipulation if she remembered correctly.

"Ah, no, it's XLR8." Odd choice, but who was she to comment on it. The PRT let a kid name himself Clockblocker.

"Well, either way let's get this meeting underway then." Hannah brought out the forms needed, and arrayed them across the table. It was nothing but formality she supposed. Most of these were just basic legal-binding agreements that her persona as a hero would remain a hero, and in return she would get limited PRT support. In exchange, they would be allowed to have random bi-monthly checkups and require a semi-annual reconfirmation of the tests and examinations XLR8 took. Celestial didn't even look at any of the forms, perhaps out of recognition or understanding she supposed. Either way, it pointed towards him being more ambiguous than before. Hannah watched as XLR8 parsed the forms and contracts before looking towards her teacher.

"Uh, shouldn't you, like, I don't know, be more involved in this?" Celestial shook his head.

"Just don't sign the one Miss Commando's about to give you. And skip section 3 of the third one. I already have enough T-shirts with the Omnitrix symbol on them." Well, that confirmed a lot about what type of cape Celestial was, yet at the same time raised more questions. Knowing that much without even looking at them, and even correctly predicting the nature of the next form solidified his position as a Thinker.

"You have T-Shirts?" Celestial looked at his protege, and although Hannah couldn't see his face, she could almost feel the smirk and snark poring through his non-expression.

"Miss Militia has some combat equipment branded after her. New Wave the hero group is actually also the New Wave magazine. Panacea has certified anti-biotics. And yes, I, your great and wise mentor, have T-Shirts." Hannah felt a little bit out of place in this discussion, since she actually didn't manage the weapons brand that PRT used her name on. Oh, she made sure it ran a clean ship and was correctly certified, but it wasn't different than any other self defense weapons brand.

"But seriously, T-Shirts?" XLR8's amusement was about to be shot down. That look in Celestial's eye was the same one she gave to Dennis every time she tore his jokes down around him. It was a pleasantly vindictive feeling that her public persona didn't get to enjoy often.

"Would you rather I have underwear that ten year olds wear, like your pair with Armsmaster's logo on them?" XLR8 blushed a healthy crimson.

"Shutting up now." Celestial nodded in response.

"Hmm hmm." Hannah quickly tried to salvage the meeting by pulling out the next few forms. She had very little interest in the underwear of fourteen year olds, thank you very much. She cleared her throat to grab their attention.

"Moving on from that... enlightening discussion. Your student has a very diverse and powerful power set. And although we have no records of you, from first impressions, I can see that you're at the very least a Thinker, Celestial. As such, the Protecterate would like to offer you both a position, the Brockton Bay Wards for Miss XLR8, and a full Brockton Bay Protectorate position for Celestial." Hannah finished her offer by sliding the forms over to the two independents.

"This the one I don't sign right?" Hannah frowned. Piggot would not be happy if a powerhouse like XLR8 was allowed to roam free, especially under the guidance of an unknown. Add the fact that he's confirmed to be a Thinker, a truly devious power set, even when used for good, it did not seem like it would likely turn out well for Brockton Bay. Perhaps a trial period? She voiced the option to the two independents. No strings attached.

"She'll accept." That was certainly unexpected. She turned to see XLR8's opinion, and sure enough, she was equally as gobsmacked.

"What? Why?" Even Hannah could sense that she was feeling betrayed.

"I can teach you everything you need to know about being a hero. But only you can learn what you need to know to be a person." Hannah's expression softened. Even if he was a villain of some caliber, he seemed to genuinely care for his student's well being. She might as well help.

"I can vouch for the Wards you know. Most of them are friendly, well adjusted people, and always willing to make new friends. Even the most prickly of them, Shadow Stalker, is fairly cordial and friendly, if a bit abrasive." She hoped that XLR8 would accept. The likelihood, even with a mentor, of her turning down a dark path or simply not being prepared were still very high.

"No strings attached right?"

"No strings. This is simply an honorary position. We even won't ask for any information beyond the bare basics of your powers." Hannah watched XLR8 nod.

"Okay. I'll join." She let out a sigh of relief. Now, to the hard part.

"We can offer you a similar deal, Celestial, but you would need to disclose your full powers for it to be accepted by the PRT and Protectorate heads." Hannah herself thought it was unfair, but she could see where the concept came from. Enticing Wards to join would be far easier if they were allowed to eventually build trust, and letting them keep their powers close to their chest would help build that trust. The main Protectorate, however, could not afford the anonymity. They would be held fully responsible for any actions taken by Celestial, and as such would need to know what exactly his damage potential was. Celestial seemed to be pondering the suggestion.

"Ah," he sighed wistfully,"To be part of a team again would be fun." Miss Militia nodded.

"So you accept?" She could tell his expression hardened once more.

"No, it is unfortunate, but I would have to decline." She asked why, and the answer scared her, even if just a little.

"If I disclose the full capability of my powers, I would have a kill order printed for me before I was even born. That, or they'd throw me one verse three against the Endbringers and hope I take them down before I died." His voice was full of mirth, though his words were decidedly grim. Even XLR8 looked a bit aghast at that admission.

"If that's all?" Hannah nodded. Celestial grabbed XLR8's shoulder and nodded.

"Right, thank you for your time Miss Commando." In a flash of black light, which blanketed out her vision, he and the girl disappeared. Hannah let out a sigh. She hoped Armsmaster got as much of a headache from reviewing this footage.

* * *

"Are you really that strong?" Taylor asked, apprehensively.

"The better question to ask, is how strong am I?" Celestial retorted, voice tinged with a slight bitterness.

"Well?" She prodded further.

"Beyond comprehension." His reply was chilling.

"How, how do you deal with it?" This time, he wasn't so bitter, or scary to her.

"I had some good teachers." He mused.

"Well, I have a pretty cool teacher too, ya know!" She said. He was like her dad in that respect. Broken. Just a little bit, but it was starting wear on him. She could tell. Well, she'd be strong for both of them then, cause that's what hero does!

"Yeah, I know." He smirked.

"Also, I can't believe that perverted crap is what you call a word game. And I can't believe you called her Miss Commando to her face!" This time, he was grinning.

"I can't believe you fell for it, and that she couldn't figure it out." This time, he was Ben. And he was smiling.

 **AN: So, an introduction to the protectorate. A little spoilerish material coming up.**

* * *

 **Why did I skip Taylor's first night out as a hero? Honestly, because of the way the timeline worked out, nothing interesting would have happened. At most it would have been a filler chapter introducing upgrade, and a minor confrontation with Armsmaster that resulted in a panicked Taylor getting picked up by the PRT after stopping a house robbery in the upper class area. In which case, that would tint the glases so to speak of Taylor's introduction to the PRT that I did not want. So I threw together Ben's side of the story, giving a bit more control. To be honest, I think I like this pattern of the story. Taylor centric chapters are more about development as a hero, and experience through combat, trial through fire, that sort of thing. Ben centric is probably going to be more about recovery, and learning how to be human, and the awkward experiences of a millenium old guy posing as a nineteen year old.**

* * *

 **Spoilers over. R and R, and sorry you didn't get to see the Feedback mention, it just didn't work out the way I wanted to in revision of the idea.**

 **A Little OutTake: The PRT and their De-Briefing**

* * *

"So why are we all here again?" A young man in a clock themed costume asked aloud.

"You already know why, Gearhead. It's about the 'honorary' ward member that kicked our asses six ways to Sunday last night." A girl snarked, armed with a crossbow and quiver.

"Come on Shadowstalker, let Clockblocker be, it's the only way to get him to shutup." Another young man said, this time nursing a headache through his red shield themed costume. The bag of ice didn't work as well through the fibers of his suit, he bemoaned.

"Man, I hope they don't get her teacher to join. That dude's more intimidating than Piggot, the Triumvirate, and Armsmaster combined." Said the teen in a power suit. Gallant seriously hoped that he didn't have to take any sparring sessions with that guy.

"Dean, he can't be that bad. I mean, at least he didn't look like he could kill you instantly like that girl could. That fire form was crazy strong!" A young girl's voiced pitched in. Vista was simultaneously the youngest ward member and the most experienced. Odd combination.

"Yeah, no. He looked like he could stop me from being born!" Gallant was quite shook up honestly. He turned to his right. Looking for confirmation from his friend.

"Yeah, I suppose." Browbeat said ambiguously. He didn't see why Gallant was so afraid of one guy. If anything, Browbeat thought he was the coolest looking cape he'd seen, Case-53 or otherwise! All of a sudden, the door to the meeting room was opened. In walked the three leaders of Brockton Bay's PRT and Protectorate systems. Armsmaster, Director Piggot, and Miss Militia. Armsmaster cleared his throat, silencing the Wards. Piggot spoke up first.

"You are all here to analyze and brainstorm over the recording of meeting room two fifty three." Piggot's voice rang out. Shadowstalker was the first to object.

"Why are we here then? Couldn't you just have left it to Kid Egghead, Armsmaster, and Carlos?" Piggot directed her steely gaze to the ward.

"Kid Win is a Tinker, not a Thinker. And though Armsmaster and Aegis perform admirably as leaders, the contents of this recording require specific information from each of you to confirm." Piggot said. She looked for any other objections.

"I'll leave you to it then." Armsmaster nodded, and Piggot left.

"What you see in this recording may be somewhat invasive of your privacy, but please bare with it and simply confirm whether it is true or false." The Wards actually looked at Armsmaster confused. For a warning to come from Armsmaster about privacy meant that this was something probably super invasive of their privacy considering his emotional range of a bent teaspoon.

"I'll begin."

* * *

"So how do we start this game?" The girl they now identified as XLR8 asked on screen.

"Simple, it's called 'What They're Wearing'. Ask me what they're wearing and I'll answer." Her teacher, Celestial replied.

"That doesn't sound like such a hard word game." Celestial shrugged in response.

"You can ask me about anyone, and I'll be able to answer." XLR8 nodded, that wouldn't hurt to try.

"What am I wearing then?" She asked hesitantly. Celestial thought for a moment, eyes wandering the ceiling.

"Armsmaster themed." XLR8 sat still for a moment. Confused, just as were the rest of the Wards. Then, her eyes bugged out, then a massive blush spread across her face.

"How!? Why!? HOW IS THAT EVEN A POWER!?" She screamed in what the Protectorate members could only identify as embarrassment.

"It just is, now keep on playing." It wasn't exactly an order. But they could tell that beyond the frustration and embarrassment, XLR8 was still having a semblance of fun, even if it was at her expense.

"Armsmaster himself?" She asked.

"Boxer Briefs." The Wards all stared at Armsmaster, as if they were on a prank tv show. Is this entire meeting about underwear? Armsmaster simply nodded and confirmed.

"Really, badass leader of the Protectorate wears Boxer Briefs?" XLR8 asked, as if disbelieving. Celestial took another second to think.

"Boxer briefs that have been modified. Waist band is detachable and made of a polymer that when electrified has different results. A small capacitor with two settings is sown into the right leg, and a high voltage mini-battery is sown into the left. The two leg bands are made of a different polymer. When they make contact with each other, they function as cuffs, if a bit stretchy." XLR8 thought about it a little more.

"But what if he has to use all three bands?" XLR8 grimaced as she said that. A notion shared by all the Wards watching the recording and Miss Militia. Celestial put his hand to his chin this time to think.

"He thinks of a naked...Dragon? Boy he's in for a surprise." He mumbled out. Armsmaster simply nodded in confirmation.

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Dennis agreed with her. In fact, he was literally vomiting into the small waste basket set aside in the meeting room. The rest of the occupants wore similar expressions of disgust. It took a few minutes to get the room settled before they could continue.

"Then move on to the next person." Celestial suggested.

"Uh, how about...Gallant?" Gallant's head poked up, looking around alarmingly. For some reason, he could feel the gaze of two people on him. One he knew was Dennis, obviously interested about blackmail. He couldn't pinpoint the other pair though.

"Depends if him and Glory Girl are together again or not. He alternates between a pair that says "GG's Property" and "A Free Man". Not exactly a healthy sign of a relationship." Suddenly Gallant could feel the entire gaze of the room on him. He nodded, and said it was true. Miss Militia then offered him the PRT counseling services and suggested one of the counselors that specialized in abusive relationships. He blanched and thanked her, as was polite. He and Vicky didn't have any problems. So what if he only felt happy when she wanted him to be happy. That's how it worked right?

"Bypassing those implications. Aegis?" XLR8 asked. Aegis was sincerely hoping the scary space man wouldn't deliver. Or that he just had three really lucky guesses thanks to a Thinker power.

"Whitey Tighties." Celestial snorted to himself. XLR8 giggled too.

"Seriously?" XLR8 asked. Celestial nodded in response. Dennis was laughing his ass off. Armsmaster looked for confirmation and Aegis nodded. Dennis fell off his chair.

"ShadowStalker?" The girl promptly left the conference room, then texted Armsmaster her underwear specifications. She didn't come back.

"Predator themed." A couple confused expressions rose up at that announcement, including XLR8's.

"Predator? Like Tiger stripes?" She asked for clarification.

"Nope, like Predator vs Alien, the Earth Aleph movie. Not even sure how she got Earth Aleph underwear." Celestial said. Armsmaster nodded in response.

"BrowBeat?"

"Silk boxers." Browbeat confirmed. Nothing to be ashamed of. He's just happy he didn't say what the pattern was. On the screen, XLR8 raised her eyebrow.

"My Little Pony print silk boxers." Celestial clarified. Browbeat nodded in shame.

"Vista?" The girl herself blushed and hid her face in her hands.

"She's twelve." XLR8 stared at him.

"And this stops you why?" Vista's dreams were shattered.

"Fair enough. She wears 7 different sets. Corresponding a letter to each day. Spells out Gallant." Celestial told her. Vista confirmed it, the only saving grace being Dean having to use the bathroom.

"Crush?" Celestial looked at her, this time his eyebrows raised.

"If you could call the collapsing of a dwarf star into a black hole a "crush". Then yes." Carlos and Dennis were chuckling, as was Miss Militia. Vista pouted. She was not THAT obsessed. Maybe.

"Umm, who's left. Uh, Roostertime? What's his name?" This time, Dennis was feigned being stabbed in the heart, while Aegis and Gallant laugohed good naturedly.

"Clockblocker? He has a pair of boxer briefs that have the words "The Clockinator" stitched in cursive across the front." XLR8 simply giggled, Dennis confirmed, looking positively pleased with himself.

"You're not gonna ask about Miss Commando?" Celestial asked.

"You mean Miss Militia?" Meanwhile, Dennis was giggling his ass off, having figured it out immediately.

"No, I mean Miss Commando." A look of realization flitted across her face before a blush and growl took over.

"That's very bold."

"Indeed."


	4. Chapter 4

Taylor walked down the hallway, intent on at least getting her homework handed in early before she had to deal with anybody from the Herd. Personally, she thought that her original name was uncreative and a little bland. Just calling them the Trio gave them power in a sense. Cool or powerful things came in three's. The Triumvirate. The Holy Trinity. Those weird orange popsicles that her Dad always buys that tasted like blueberry but were delicious. No. Instead, she called them the Herd. Because that's what they were. A collection of dumb cows. Idly, she wondered if Ben's abrasive wit had been rubbing off on her. She grimaced at her phrasing. That's a yep, she thought as she opened the door to Mr. Salz's class. He was a math teacher. An old man that worked hard through the Civil Rights era as a police officer, and eventually became a teacher after he was injured in the height of his career. He was a nice guy though, he didn't treat anyone from the Herd extra-favorably, and didn't treat her any worse due to their rumors. Though, half the time she wondered if that was because he didn't care, or because he was so close to retirement he didn't want anything screwing up his pension. For a seventy five year old guy, he drove a sweet Camaro. Though, Taylor mainly liked it because it was hot pink. Apparently he let his husband choose the colors. That did lend more weight to the "Doesn't give a damn" theory, though. Walking into the age old Winslow classroom, she greeted him politely.

"Hello, Mr. Salz. I've come early to drop off my homework." He was a little bit on the overweight size due to his age, but not extremely so. Just slightly "muffin topping" out of his work pants. Overall, he dressed in khaki slacks, a black belt, and a white business shirt. He was cleanly shaven, with a neatly cropped top of curly gray hair.

"Very well, Hebert. You are dismissed." He nodded sharply, and accepted her work. He took a few seconds to flip through her work, before he looked back to her.

"Is there something you need Hebert?" His gruff tone cut an imposing figure, even if he had to walk with a cane these days.

"Ah, um, I was wondering if I could set up one of those revisionary tests for a few weeks from now? I just got a tutor, and was hoping I could up my score on an older test." She asked while wringing her hands. He was actually really forgiving with what most teachers deemed "Extra Credit". His tests and quizzes were harsh. But, he allowed you to retake them as long as you took a max score reduction of 10% every time it was retaken. He encouraged these tests, and as a result, most people got B's from his class and had an actually good grasp of the materials. The quiz she was specifically retaking had been given a score of 0 due to "absence". One of the Herd stole her normal clothes in gym, and while she was making a formal complaint, another "accidentally" dropped juice on her shorts. It was a sticky three hours. Salz nodded.

"You know the drill, Hebert. Bring back your copy of the quiz, fill out the required form, and hand me a list of dates that are available to you." He reminded her sternly. She nodded in response and thanked him. As she turned to leave, she was stopped.

"Hebert, according to my notes, this is the fourth retake in as many quizzes. Is there a problem?" Taylor turned around and simply shook her head. She was a hero now. She couldn't be bothered by simple bullying, even if it hurt.

"Very well. But please do remember, if you are enduring sacrifice, then endure for a worthwhile cause beyond your own pride. It doesn't end well. That's from my own experience." She nodded. He had confronted her about any "problems" she may have had twice now. She understood why as well. Given his history, discrimination, even from cliques probably sat badly with him.

"It's fine, Mr. Salz. I've got a new tutor now, and I just simply wanted to improve some test scores. No point in letting my grades go down because of pettyness." He nodded.

"That attitude will get you far in life, Hebert. But, do remember, I will be here from six o'clock to five-thirty, if you wish to discuss any issues with the course." She nodded, thanked him once more, and stepped out to make her way to her first period class. Maybe, in some other world, if the Herd had been allowed to get worse than before, she would have accepted any teacher offering help. But now, she was a hero. And being a hero meant you had to be stubborn, and unfaltering. Like Armsmaster and Miss Militia. A stray thought crossed her head. God damn it Ben!

She sighed in relief as she opened her lunch. She sat alone, mainly because she didn't want anyone else to be forced to deal with the Herd, and because no one else in her grade was brave enough to stand up. A few seniors were sometimes willing to share their table when they saw the bullying get harsher than they accepted, but even then, that was only occasionally. She was pretty sure Mr. Salz tipped them off, because they were part of some of the activists clubs he ran. Apparently, the Herd still hadn't managed to figure out her pattern for walking to classes this week. Mainly because she hadn't been to her locker in two weeks. She had cheated a bit and used Upgrade, the Galvan Mechamorph, and her Galvan form, name not decided, to rig up a small storage cube, mounted to her backpack, to store all her books, notes, and personal belongings. It had happened under Ben's supervision, during one of their training sessions, and he approved. He said he personally would have pranked the hell out of them, even now as a professional hero. Maturity was overrated, he said. Taylor blanched. Yeah, maybe to the guy who could literally do anything, maturity would be overrated, she supposed. She took some of the time to do some research on her mentor. Apparently, even though he shouldn't exist, just like the PRT told her from their database, since he was born on Earth Gimmel, his non-cape name was totally legit. Ben Tennyson, lived in Los Angeles, went to Boston for college, now attends graduate classes as a nineteen year old in Harvard. Show-off. Even the tutor support program, which she had never heard of before, was magically created. Hell, it even had other members, and some seniors that she recognized walking around Winslow. She pulled out her phone, just to double check. It was an old flip phone brick Ben got her for normal use and emergencies. Not exactly appealing, but some good old Upgrade and Galvan cheats made it run as fast and work as well as any modern smartphone on the market. Another bright note, Ben literally punted it and it took no damage. He said he used to own two phones in case of emergencies. Being a hero had smashed a ton of his personal stuff, so he just carried around a smartphone for personal use and the brick for hero use. All of a sudden, her phone was swiped from her.

"Oh, what do we have here? Does the slug have a crush? And quite a handsome one too. Too bad you're too ugly to get a guy like him." A voice chimed in from behind her. She turned around. It was the three main cows. Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes, and Madison Clements. Sophia Hess was her nemesis. And Taylor was hers, for some reason. She was the star of the track team, and was fairly pretty. She had dark skin, and long curly hair, all pinned together by a trendy tight T-shirt and short shorts ensemble. The next leader, was Emma Barnes. Her ex-bestfriend. In the span of two weeks, she went from best friend to hated enemy. And Taylor didn't even know how. She wore a white cashmere tube sweater with the shoulders cut off, and had red hair, and impressive assets for a fourteen year old. Her dad was a high powered and successful defense attorney. The last one was Madison Clements. Not much political power, just a generically rich family. Brown hair, trendy outfit like the others. Slightly shorter, and had a pixie cut, and often used her "cuteness" to get out of trouble. If anything, she was only in the main three cows because they seemed to tolerate her the most. She noted that Sophia was the one who swiped her phone. Sophia took one more look and snorted, before handing it to Emma. Immediately, Emma's superior look was dashed from her face. She huddled with the other two, discussing something. From what Taylor could hear, apparently her sister had a crush on Ben, who often visited the Mr. Smoothie at the docks she worked. Anne mistook it as an interest in her, and not the food. She held in her snort. It would be funny, if Anne wasn't such a nice person. Taylor met her a few times when Emma and her were still friends. She should have Ben set Anne straight, or at least give her a chance. Eugh. Matchmaking. The Herd parted once more and faced Taylor. Sophia was apparently disgruntled by whatever they had discussed.

"So, how do you know this guy, Slug?" Emma asked. Taylor frowned.

"What's it matter to you?" She couldn't actually call her a cow. It would be flipped so fast, the Olympic gold medalist in Judo would be surprised.

"Just wondering why an A-lister like this guy would be caught dead around you." Emma faked a gasp.

"You aren't blackmailing him are you? That's illegal, and I wouldn't be surprised if you stooped that low to get attention." She sneered. Taylor frowned, and then it hit her. They wanted his number. Ha, she thought. And they took her phone in full view of the cafeteria supervisor, so they knew they had to return it. Taylor snarled back.

"As if. He's part of a tutor program for credit for his University, he goes to Harvard as a graduate student. Ben's a prodigy." That shut them up good. Apparently, confirmation that she actually knew Ben made them stall in their thoughts. Madison opened up fire next.

"Woe is him then. To be assigned to a little troll like you. Maybe you should cancel the tutoring and put him out of his misery." Taylor frowned. That one actually hit deep. She was chosen. She was chosen, because she was hero material, and Ben said so himself!

"Actually, he chose me." Taylor started. Damn, she thought. That opened her up to more questions, and she just wanted the Herd out of her sight.

"Huh, and why would this guy choose you, Slug?" Sophia again this time. Taylor frowned. Excuse, excuse. Anything that wouldn't somehow tarnish either of their reputations.

"Yeah, you spreading your legs for this pedo?" Madison threw out. Taylor almost gagged. She found Ben good looking, but after the past two weeks, he was a brother more than anything else.

"First of all, Madison, get your head out of the gutter. Second, he's my cousin. He was born in California." Why the hell did Emma look hurt, was the first thought that popped in Taylor's head. Oh, she's sorry that she didn't keep her in the loop after literally getting stabbed in the back multiple times by a lance. Taylor calmed herself down. This was not the time. She could vent later. Emma came up to her and handed Taylor back her phone. This time, she wasn't as confrontational.

"Well, you've proven you know him. And I know you heard us talking about my sister. So we're willing to strike a deal. We'll leave you alone, if you give us his number and get him to go out with Anne." At this, Sophia literally growled before being shushed by Madison. Well, now Taylor knew who the main aggressor was. But, she still frowned. Could she actually throw Ben under the bus figuratively? Even after all he's done for her? The teaching, the actual tutoring that somehow always stuck, the companionship? A memory of her first day out on the job resurfaced. Five seconds later Taylor handed over the number, and some tips that Anne could use to get him to open up. Payback was a very delicious dessert, Taylor noted as she finished her lunch. Emma thanked her politely, and Sophia reminded her that this was only temporary before being dragged off.

* * *

Taylor was sitting at home working on her homework in the living room. Her dad was passed out on the couch from a food coma. He came home early today, to try and salvage a little of their relationship. Taylor though absentmindedly noted that it was a fun night, but it only worked because her mom was involved. They spent the entire afternoon shopping and making her mom's awesome lasagna. After they finished eating and reminiscing, the silence started up again. She jolted in shock as the front door flew open. What the hell? How did Ben get in without any keys?

"I jimmied the lock." Well, that answered that. And it answered why he jimmied the lock instead of just knocking. He was mad. Not actually angry Taylor could tell, but definitely uncomfortable with something that happened earlier today. She smirked.

"Hey Mr. Hebert, me and Taylor are heading the library. That cool?" Taylor shivered. This was not going to be fun. Her dad woke up slightly before nodding. Ben built up a fairly good rapport with her dad. Apparently having someone who had an "in" with the upper class by virtue of education helped a lot with his work, and got him some connections that normally he wouldn't be able to get. Heck, Taylor was pretty sure her dad and Ben were having a meeting with the mayor next week to discuss possible policies on where to place the "structurally unemployed" dock workers. Ben had used that term at the first discussion, and the mayor immediately tuned in, because apparently it was a fairly solvable problem if properly managed, and would get him a fair amount of clout for re-election. Taylor followed Ben out of the house, and turned around to lock up. Once the door was locked, she turned to face him. He was leaning on his car. A green muscle car with black racing stripes. She couldn't put an exact thumb on the make and model, but she was pretty sure it was some sort of Mustang.

"Are you kidding me Taylor? You actually gave that girl my number?" His voice came out exasperated. Taylor frowned. What was the problem? At the very worst, he just had to go on a date with a very pretty girl once. She voiced as much. Huh, so that's how he looked at idiots, she noted. Very condescending. Man, her confidence really shot up in the past few weeks now that she took inventory of her thoughts. Ben fished out his phone, and showed her the message screen.

"So what, she sent 16 messages? I mean, that's not exactly normal, but I'm pretty sure she's crushing pretty hard. Anne's super quiet, and doesn't talk to guys much." Taylor told him from what she remembered. Ben sighed.

"Move your thumb." Oh. Oooooh. Taylor was pretty sure she made a grave mistake. Ben had only responded to the first few messages before apparently ignoring her. For good reason.

"One Hundred and Sixty?! What the hell?!" And now that she got a closer look. What the hell was wrong with Anne? Some of these messages are plain weird. Was that a marriage proposal?! Well, there was only one thing to do then, thought Taylor. She puppy pouted at him.

"Pwease go on a date with Anne. Emma will make Sophia stop buwwying me." Ben sighed, like a man walking to death row.

"Three weeks." He held up three fingers to punctuate his response.

"Yay, you're the best brother ever!" Taylor clamped a hand over her mouth. Ben looked at her quizically before smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, just get in the car brat." Taylor let out a sigh of relief. She had no idea where that came from. Well, she knew, but there was nothing on Earth that would get her to admit it. Wait. Aliens were real. Damn it all.

"Come on, you're about to find out about the most boring and exciting part of being a hero!" The false happiness in his voice was only offset by the twitching corner of his mouth. Taylor raised an eyebrow in response.

"We're going on patrol." And with that, he clicked his keys. Taylor watched as the car transformed. Plates shifted out of the way, thrusters were formed, and even blasters came out of the hood. When it was done, it looked like it came out of some sci-fi show mixed with that Mad Max movie her dad loved. She watched as this time, Celestial, not Ben, jumped in the front seat and snapped his fingers. Why were her clothes so heavy all of a sudden? Taylor looked down at herself. Her plain jeans instead became some form fitting white pants made out of some smooth cloth with a green stripe running down the sides. Her sneakers changed into green and white patterned high tops, and her shirt was replaced with a black t-shirt. She was also wearing a somewhat dense green jacket, similar to the one Ben wore, with a large emblazoned ten on the right side. She quickly touched her face, searching for her glasses only to find a domino mask. She checked it out on the polished side of the car, it was white. And, she noted, she looked amazing. Even though she wasn't a looker, somehow she now looked at least like a solid seven out of ten.

"The entire outfit is made out of Galvan nanoweave. Not a single Earthling firearm will pierce it, but the concussive force behind the bullet won't be fully absorbed, and you're not wearing a helmet, so you still gotta be careful. There's a small stun baton strapped to your back, it's for when you run out of charge." Taylor nodded gratefully. That was how she was first caught afterall. She had no clue that the Omnitrix needed to charge. It wasn't a debilitating drawback, in fact it charged stupid fast, and lasted nearly eight hours on one charge. She jumped in the shotgun seat.

"You figure out your hero name yet?" Taylor smiled sheepishly. She hadn't, she had actually been planning on just using XLR8, since it was her favorite form anyways. Celestial sighed.

"Well, you better figure one out soon, or else I'm just going to start introducing you as Astro-girl, sidekick to the all powerful, handsome, and amazing Celestial." He stated. Taylor gagged on the cheesiness.

"Hey, what happened to the dual voice?" He raised his eyebrow at her before nodding in realization.

"I only use it when I want to make an impression. I actually forgot to use it during our meeting with Miss Commando." Taylor blushed.

"Could you stop calling her that to her face?" Celestial floored the gas and Taylor totally forgot all her complaints in favor of screaming at him to slow down. All she heard was the blast of the engine, her own screams, and his roaring laughter as they sped down the street.

* * *

"Gallant, reporting in." Vista sighed. When she first heard that she would be going on patrol with Gallant, she couldn't be happier. Shadow Stalker was apparently in a bad enough mood that she snapped at the Director, leaving her on monitor duty for the next few weeks. Meaning, that instead of Shadow Stalker, Gallant had to roll onto patrol duty and cancel his date with Glory Girl. Win-Win right? Wrong. Gallant had spent the last hour pretty much sulking. And occasionally shivering when he stared at the night sky for too long. Vista had no clue what the second thing was about. She played with her green wave patterned dress and helmet while she thought. Gallant's metallic fingers snapping in front of her woke her out of her daydreaming.

"Look alive, Vista, we've got capes down on Eisler avenue." He whispered, ducking into the alley nearby, intending to shortcut his way towards the fight and make use of its cover. Vista followed, debating on whether to use her powers for a faster response, or to save it for the fight.

"Who do we got?" She asked Gallant. She watched him press his helmet, and she could tell he was frowning.

"Two on one turf fight. They called in the big boys. Oni Lee's duking it out with Hookwolf and Stormtiger. Think you could get us there faster, Vista?" Missy nodded, her blond pigtails batting back and forth. While she couldn't compress space with living beings in it, due to the Manton Effect, she was able to allow living beings to cross the compressed space threshold. In about three steps, they covered about six blocks. Gallant pulled her, once again, into a nearby alley once he got a hold on the situation.

"I see them, they're duking it out. I think Lee's stalling for backup, cause both of the E88 capes are trying to wail on him." Gallant said as Vista peeked out. Vista nodded in agreement and frowned. While Gallant was a fairly powerful Blaster and Vista was a very powerful Shaker, their actual powers didn't lend them well to being actual frontliners. If anything, they were both extremely powerful support types, allowing BrowBeat and Aegis to take down enemies with little to no risk, due to failed return fire thanks to Vista, or a distracted opponent thanks to Gallant. She had no idea how they would fight them. Hookwolf was a high rated Changer. He could convert his body into a mass of steel and blades that converged into any form, normally he chose a wolf. Stormtiger, on the other hand, was a Striker. He had a fairly encompassing aerokinesis ability that let him even have empowered sense and hearing, along with extreme concussive air blasts. Oni Lee was the worst however. He was a powerful mover, capable of teleporting anywhere within line of sight, and leaving a fully independent ashe clone behind. Combined with the concussive and explosive grenades on his vest that got copied with him, he was literally a walking, teleporting all-purpose blast. She turned to Dean.

"How are we gonna deal with them, Gallant? You know we can't fight them head on. One of them's Oni Lee, and the other two are some of the strongest E88 frontliners!" She shout-whispered. She watched as Gallant hummed in thought. Then his head shot towards down the street. Vista watched as Stormtiger said something to Hookwolf, and both backed off from Lee, stopping the fight. What was going on? Wait. Vista could hear it now. Was that... an engine? Her head snapped towards down the street. She could hear it loudly now. A green car rounded the corner, drifting across the street at high speeds. It was covered in what was obviously Tinker tech, modified engine, thrusters, and even blasters mounted to the front. She watched as, in the middle of the drifting maneuver, the driver calmly stepped out of the car from the driver's seat, letting it spin around him before perfectly parking itself parallel to the street in an open spot by the corner, and the door slamming shut to centrifugal force. What. The. Hell. Did she fall asleep watching an action movie!? Was this a god damned dream?!

"Uh, HQ, looks like the two new independents are here. And Celestial just broke Vista's perception of the world." Gallant stated into his receiver. Vista quickly recuperated after being called out like that. Unlike the girl who was stepping out of the passenger side. She watched, as the hero, Celestial, calmly walked over to the parking meter, and whip out his wallet from somewhere, and start feeding quarters into it. This was so god damned surreal.

"How. How did that even work?! The laws of physics don't work like that!" Vista could hear the shouting of what she assumed to be XLR8 from across the street. Preach it sister. Vista strained her ears to hear Celestial's response.

"They do for me." He shrugged. Vista was ready to go home now. This, was just too much. XLR8, however, apparently wanted to continue berating the universe for the affront to the world her mentor just pulled off.

"Why are you putting quarters into the parking meter?" XLR8 asked deadpan. Vista watched Celestial stare at her. And he was radiating what seemed to be disappointment from his glare.

"We're capes. Not savages." Huh, it looked like XLR8 was done too. And it looked like Celestial ran out of quarters. A loud coughing sound rang across the silent street. Apparently, Oni Lee had been trying to hold in his laughter the entire time, and was losing the battle.

"Oh right. Villains. Sidekick, Vista, and Chivalry you three deal with Oni Lee. I'm going to go play with the puppy and the kitty." Vista was shocked. For a multitude of reasons. One, the sheer insanity of the statement. Two, the fact that Celestial somehow knew she and Dean were here. Three, the sheer speed that Celestial moved after the statement, and finally, four, what he called Hookwolf and Stormtiger.

"Puppy!? I'll show you a fucking puppy you motherfu-" Hookwolf was blindsided by a black blur along with Stormtiger. The next thing Vista knew, both villains were pinned against a brick building by their throats by Celestial. The next moment was even more chilling. She watched as Celestial stared into the "eyes" of Hookwolf. Then he started speaking. A dual toned voice carried his words through the streets.

"You know, I don't like gangs. There's only a few I can actually tolerate. Hell, to be honest, I actually somewhat like the ABB! They don't even kill non-gang members. I mean they're brutal, and an illegal operation, but they have honor and courtesy backing them up. Their boss can even be loosely construed as a hero for his actions against Endbringers." He stated. His grip tightened around the two villans' throats before he continued speaking.

"But you. You guys do some pretty nasty things. I mean, drug rings, forced prostitution, assassination, the whole nine yards. The E88 is the worst of the bunch. Money, I can understand. Greed is a powerful motivator. Power, I can understand as well. But your gang, is founded on nothing but a combination of anger and misplaced hatred." He paused once more. This time, leaning in close to Hookwolf's face.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking you." He finished in a whisper, that was heard by all that were there. Vista honestly thought Stormtiger just soiled himself.

"Mommy." Hookwolf meeped out. Then all three of them were gone. Vista gulped. She now knew why Gallant was so scared of that guy. Speaking of Gallant.

"Dean, pull your god damned thumb out of your mouth, we have to fight!" Vista didn't know how, but somehow, Gallant had managed to suck on his thumb THROUGH power armor. Dean nodded, but did not pull out the thumb. His life was flashing before his eyes, he deserved some form of safety blanket! Screw it, he'll just hug Vista!

Vista looked around. Oni Lee was still there apparently, laughing his ass off at the entire absurd situation. Gallant was hugging her tightly, in a way that she did not appreciate. And XLR8 was staring at them like they were idiots. Vista sighed, this was going to be a long night.

* * *

Taylor sighed to herself. This was going to be a long night. Immediately after Celestial had pulled that insult to Isaac Newton, he ditched her! Well, not exactly. Rather, he put the fear of a wrathful and angry god into two of the most dubious capes in the E88. Then ditched her! She rubbed her temples. She had been hanging around Ben for too long. She'll just vent on Oni Lee, she supposed, maybe after a good fight the world would return to normal.

"Oi!" She called out. Immediately, the villain's back straightened, any sign of his previous cackles disappearing. Taylor noted that Vista had finally calmed down Gallant, both of them walking up beside her to provide support. Vista leaned close to her.

"Do you have any frontline forms? Me and Gallant are mainly support based power sets. That fire Blaster form that you call Upgrade would be useful, or even XLR8." She asked. Taylor frowned. She accidentally turned into a Pyronite on her first night out and accidentally called out Upgrade. She'd have to fix that misconception eventually.

"Yeah, I've got two or three that I can use. As soon as I transform, I'm going to rush him, make sure he doesn't get too far away from me got it?" Vista and Gallant nodded in response. Taylor flipped through her choices, before slamming the activator down. Out of a flash of green light, came the speedster reptile. Taylor knew Oni Lee could teleport, but Taylor was faster than he could react. In two seconds, she was already attempting to knock lee out at five hundred miles per hour. Her clothesline move caught him in the throat. Only for ashe to take his place. Crap, Taylor thought. She knew he couldn't have gone far, his PHO page said that his highest recorded leap had been around fifty feet, and that he had to have a breather depending on the distance. It was powerful, but costly, according to the researchers that studied his ability. She slowed herself down to a normal pace, and the world started moving again. She turned to Gallant and Vista, both on edge.

"Okay, we know he couldn't have gone far, is there anyway we can track him?" She asked the two. Vista nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a Shaker remember? I can weed him out using the Manton Effect." Taylor nodded. That was actually really smart. If she tried to compress certain areas where only humans could be, and she couldn't compress it, it would lead them right to him. And, he wouldn't even be able to know they were on to him. She watched Vista close her eyes in concentration, before turning around.

"There. I can't compress a ten by ten block of space in the second room of that building." Taylor nodded, before Gallant cut in.

"You sure it's him? Might just be a homeless guy." He pointed out. Vista shook her head.

"This is a deserted housing district that the ABB uses to store weapons and occasionally heavily injured gang members. They keep this place under heavy lock and key. If it's not Lee, then it's Lung." Vista confirmed. Taylor nodded, her mask slamming over her face.

"I'll meet you and Gallant outside the room. We'll catch him by surprise." Taylor rushed off, prepping to fight her first cape. She ran around a multitude of houses before stopping in front of the building Vista pointed out. She quickly ran up the wall and through the window on the other side of the building. She slowed herself down, sneakily moving up to the door. As soon as she got there, Vista and Gallant popped into existence. If it wasn't for the mask, Taylor was almost one hundred percent sure she would have blown their cover right there. Taylor turned to Gallant.

"On three." He mouthed. He brought up his fingers. One. Taylor tensed. Two, she focused on her senses, bringing time up to as slow as possible for her. Three. She was already in the door, going for another clothesline maneuver, this time using her tail to take him out at the legs, ensuring he would be caught. Her tail caught, and he was ashe again. Damn it. She slowed herself down, and turned around. Oh no.

"First day, huh?" A rich baritone streamed out from the demon mask. He was holding a japanese short sword in his right hand. His left arm however was more important. It was wrapped around Vista's throat. Taylor could hear Gallant's growl as he primed his blasters.

"No wrong moves, got it, loverboy?" The accentless voice rang out again. It was almost like he was conducting a business venture, Taylor noted sourly. Taylor nodded at Gallant, who lowered his arms. She started negotiations.

"I thought you guys don't kill innocents, especially not kids." She put forth. Pulling in his honor would go a long way towards saving Vista she hoped. She watched Lee nod.

"We don't. The ABB is like the yakuza of old, we don't even threaten our...constituents with any truly lasting harm. Honor and family are truly important to us, as well as the proper rights of battle." He paused and hummed a bit, blade tilting side to side.

"But, you are not innocent, are you?" Taylor's breath hitched, and she could tell Gallant's did as well. Oni Lee laughed.

"But, you are still children. I won't kill her, no. But, if my demands aren't met, she'll be short some pieces." He threatened. Taylor growled. This was bad. This was really bad. She had no choice, and she knew Gallant came to the same conclusion.

"Fine, what are your demands?" He asked, putting on the front that the PRT teams taught him when dealing with hostage situations. Oni Lee nodded.

"You will both power down. Then, you will open the window. As you both know, my power lets me independently control ashe clones that I leave behind after teleporting. One wrong move before ten seconds after my escape, and I'm not sure if I could keep my clone's hand from slipping." He stated. Taylor nodded, and so did Gallant. She tapped the dial on the Omnitrix. And Gallant turned off the small defensive measures in his suit, before removing the stun blaster Kid Win had installed. They both held their hands up, away from their respective weapons. Oni Lee nodded at Gallant and motioned towards the window. Gallant slowly walked over, and pulled it up.

"To be quite honest, you could have beaten me fairly easily if you had experience. Especially you." He said as he motioned towards Taylor.

"You move faster than people can even think. Yet, I still outpaced you. Would you like to know why?" Taylor scowled. She nodded reluctantly. He cleared his throat.

"You, like the other two, are predictable, because you are young. If you truly thought about it, you would have acted differently. My power, is to teleport within line of sight, and leave a decoy. I do need breaks for long distance jumps, yes. Had you not rushed in, and the other two positioned better, we would not be in this position. You are faster than me in all forms, besides short ranged movement. You could fight me yourself. Loverboy over there has no reason to be in the room with you, and not protecting the girl. Or, you could have thought it through, and entered alone, without the other two in line of sight. I know the girl can manipulate space with but thoughts and senses, she does not need to be in the room to help you. And neither does the Blaster. He even has armor, so even if he was visible to me, I could not harm him without risking killing him. Is this all not true?" She gritted her teeth. He was right. Had they made a plan, instead of blindly rushing in, they could have at least fought back. Now, they were at his mercy. Lee chuckled to himself.

"Ah to be young. Cocksure that your powers proved your superiority. I miss the feeling. But, I digress, I have reminisced and stayed here for too long. Lung is expecting me. Sayonara." And he collapsed into ashe. Taylor rushed to Vista's aid, calming the young girl down with a hug. Gallant had put his metal covered arm through the wall in a fit of anger.

* * *

Miss Militia sighed. This had been a long night. She was pretty sure she was about to grow gray hairs at the age of twenty one. She turned to the two E88 members they had picked up.

"Not the litter box! NOT THE LITTERBOX!" One was screaming. The other was in much the same position.

"OH GOD THE SQUIRT BOTTLE. IT BURNS!" She sighed. The worst part about it, was that Hookwolf was afraid of the litterbox, and Stormtiger was afraid of squirt bottles. It made even less sense than what had already occurred. She turned to the one responsible for their sorry state.

"What did you do to them?" She wasn't entirely sure she wanted the answer. He shrugged. Well, at least she wasn't Armsmaster she supposed. The headache of actually dealing with him, had to be less than the headache of finding information on him. She nursed her coffee, hoping that it would give her strength. Celestial turned to face her.

"How did Armsmaster like the T-shirt?" She frowned and sighed, before rubbing her temples again.

"There are now eight computer shaped holes in his steel lined laboratory wall. How do you think he liked it?" She asked, deadpan. He shrugged again. Maybe she should have done the background check. There's no way that website could be as infuriating as actually dealing with the man. She sighed. She turned towards the Wards and Celestial's protege, drinking some coffee and hot chocolate out of the back of a PRT van, draped in some blankets.

"They're pretty shook up." She said, more to herself than anyone else. Celestial nodded. She frowned. That seemed out of character.

"Shouldn't you be consoling her, or mentoring her?" She asked, accusingly. She actually thought she saw a glimpse of a frown ghost across the other hero. He motioned with his chin towards the Wards again. Hannah watched more carefully this time. It seemed, that out of the three, XLR8 was the least shook up. She was supporting Vista, who was leaning her face into her side, and chatting with Gallant to distract him from taking out his anger on anything.

"She'll be fine. She's made of tougher stuff than you think." Hannah nodded, in agreement. He was right, she supposed. This time, he sighed. It actually startled her a little bit.

"When I was first started, my first major loss shook me up pretty bad. In fact, I wouldn't even be surprised if she's just hiding the pain of her loss by trying to support others. But, she'll pull through." He said nostalgically. She nodded. But, his statement did pique her interest.

"How old are you anyways?" He looked at her in surprise.

"I started being a hero at ten years old. I'm currently nineteen, almost twenty." Hannah choked on her coffee. The man who could be more professional than Armsmaster was her age? Oh god, she realized. He wasn't some random older guy that knew about her "preferences", it was actually someone her age. That all of a sudden made it feel a fair bit more real.

"That's surprising. Did you have a team then?" He nodded, but didn't continue. Hannah wisely backed off. There was a quiet silence, fairly comfortable if she thought so herself.

"Would you like to play a word game?" This time, Hannah DID spit out her coffee. No way in hell was she getting trapped in that Thinker trick. If anything, there wasn't a Thinker rating high enough or a hole deep enough for this guy.

"I watched the recording of your last word game." She said, leaving no room for response. She would rather not be humiliated in front of peers and superiors like his sidekick.

"Pink. Unexpected, but not unappreciated." She flushed. How. She literally bought those on the way to work this morning!

"Somewhere, out there, there is a hole, that not even you can escape. And I will find it. And drop you in it." Venom laced her voice, her true intent showing through.

"That's the closest thing to threatening I've heard all day. Cute." How the hell does nothing faze him!?

"Are you two flirting?" A young girl's voice cut through their banter. Immediately, XLR8 was the focus of both of the senior heroes. They were not flirting!

"You know, Celestial, you shouldn't do that to Anne." This time, her voice was teasing. Hannah was actually excited about this. She would get to see the Thinker power of humiliation in use, without actually experiencing any of it. Hooray for unknowing sacrifices.

"Desk, second drawer, fake bottom. Under bed, third floorboard is loose. I'll tell your father." His grimace was directed at his apprentice, and immediately Miss Militia could see her light up like a Christmas tree.

"I'll be good." He nodded. He then turned towards Hannah.

"Send my regards to Armsmaster." She snorted.

"He'll be more likely to drive his Halberd through your stomach after what you put him through." She mused aloud.

"Yep. Now come Astro-girl, sidekick to the amazingly handsome, all-powerful and stylish Celestial, we need to make our first appearance on the news, and you need to fill out my paperwork." Miss Militia actually laughed this time. Mainly due to the dawning look of horror on XLR8's face as her mentor approached the small crowd of reporters who were working the late shift and looking for a juicy story.

"Bye Miss Militia! Celestial, you can't be seriously introducing me as that! That's cruel and unusual punishment!" XLR8 shouted as she ran after the man.

 **AN: WOOO FIRST FIGHT. Some Spoilers pertaining pacing ahead.**

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 **So, the main thing about the fight, is that Ben's part was totally absurd. That was intentional. They're literally bugs to him. Less than single cell organisms even. So he pretty much does everything he can to spice it up. Which includes being totally absurd and surreal for the situation. Now, onto the actual fight. The thing about the aliens, is that they're actually really powerful compared to their worm counterparts, but only if perfectly used. For example, XLR8's mover rating is just one step short of being able to just straight up fight the Triumvirate with mover alone. As it is now, she could stall for time against Eidolon or Legend assuming XLR8 is used perfectly. But, as you can see in this chapter, Taylor doesn't have the experience. She has extreme powersets, but she can't fight them on even ground because many of the capes in Worm are entirely focused on tilting matchups into their favor as much as possible.**

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 **Spoiler part over. Read and Review. And to the guy who wanted a retcon about the T-shirts, here it is.**

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 **Armsmaster's True Nemesis: The Background Check**

Colin was normally a calm man. In fact, it would not be unfair to call him stoic. For he was the mountain in the face of the oncoming evil. Which was why Assault was getting worried after the third computer flew through the wall that connected their Protectorate offices. Oh, there goes the fourth. Oh, it actually crashed through Velocity's office next door. Huh, he didn't know Colin was a brute. Calmly getting out of his desk, and walking towards the door, careful of any flying electronic debris, Assault turned to his right and knocked on Arsmaster's office door.

"Hey Armsy, you alright in there bud?" He asked. A loud groan of misery was the response.

"I'm assuming that's a no. I'm coming in, don't throw a calculator at me." He turned the knob and stepped into the office. He whistled. Trashed office, shredded furniture, smashed desks, heck, even the lights were flickering. A ten out of ten office in a zombie apocolypse movie. And, laying on the ground, for some reason in only his boxer briefs, was Colin.

"Uh, explanation?" Colin pointed to the freshly unwrapped computer monitor. Assault strummed over. On the desk was the file of the new independent, Celestial, and a couple bolded lines from the transcript of the interview. He turned to the monitor.

"Omnitrix the website , home to the great and almighty Celestial? Colin, how the hell does this cause that?" Assault asked as he waved out to the rest of the room. Colin mumbled something through the carpet. Click the symbol? Eh why not. A half an hour straight of clicking later left Assault no longer pondering the issue.

"So, you're throwing a tantrum because this guy, who is from a different dimension by the way, has the heroing career of your dreams?" Colin nodded on the floor.

"Well, might as well drop this info off at the Director's office." Immediately, Armsmaster shot up in all his semi clothed glory, and slapped Assault in the face with his electric underwear baton. Then, he hip threw him through the wall, into the chair in Assault's original office. When he wakes up, he'll be none the wiser, thought Colin. No one must know.

A couple hours later...

"Hey Colin, this t-shirt with that hour glass symbol you-"

"Underwear Baton, Hip Throw!" Armsmaster shouted as he tossed an unconcsious and memory cleared Velocity through two walls. He took the T-shirt and piled it on with the others. No one must know. Now, to delete that website. This time, Colin made it through five minutes before he tossed the computer through the wall again. This was going to be a long night. And there was no way Colin was going to ask for Dragon's help. Just the thought of that space themed bastard woo'ing her made him want to snap his halberd in half. He started unwrapping the ninth computer of the night. Instead of the normal Dell symbol however, that cursed hourglass appeared again! Torch it! He must torch it all!

And that is why Armsmaster's lab and office is now in the PRT offshore HQ. The general consensus was that there was no living way in hell that Colin could burn that to the ground in a fit of jealousy induced rage. No one besides Miss Militia knew why he was so jealous however, only that mentioning Celestial made him stroke his halberd in glee.


	5. Interlude I: ABB Recovery

**AN: So school's started again. Also, I may or may not edit the last chapter. I wrote it while on light pain meds at 3 in the morning, so the tone was really out of place. Let me know what you think about editing it. Also, this is our first "Interlude" type chapter. I'm a little concerned over how short it is so the next Interlude might be longer.**

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"Tou-chan! Again! Again!" A small voice shrieked out in happiness. He obliged obediently. A few pokes elicited another tinkling of giggles. It was like playing the world's most beautiful instrument he supposed. A small cough interrupted his train of thought. He turned towards the door. A woman stood there. And she was captivating. Long, flowing black hair trailed down her back. Her slender, and slim body accentuated the natural grace in her posture. A princess out of a fairytale, one would say. But it was not these features that made Hachi flinch, it was her eyes. Cold blue chips of ice, carved out of hell's very own frozen lake, Cocytus. It felt as though his very soul was stranded among the barrens of Siberia's frozen tundra. He swallowed.

"Ah, Yuki…" Her accusatory glare tightened. Shit! Shiiiiiiit! How the hell was he supposed to respond?! A few moments passed before his wife sighed in what he assumed to be disappointment.

"Even after all these years, your disgraceful communication skills still affirm my initial impression of you, Yamata-san." Oi, oi! Stop looking at him like he was worth less than the dirt beneath your shoe! And what was with the overly polite response?!

"Isn't that a bit harsh, Yuki?" He questioned pleadingly. She huffed in response.

"Ara, I didn't even know disgusting parasites like yourself could feel emotions." Critical hit! Hachi flinched as though struck. He felt a tug on his sleeve. A little girl stared up at him, beaming. Ah, yes, the smile of his little Yui could heal all wounds.

"Don't worry Tou-chan, even if you are a disgusting… Um…"

"Parasite, dear." His wife chimed in.

"Right, even if you are that, Kaa-chan and I will still feed you." Patient: Hachi Yamata. Time of death: 6:05 pm. Cause: Drowned in self despair. Slowly putting aside the visions of a mortician reading out his death, Hachi straightened himself. He took in his wife's small actions, and examined her carefully before speaking.

"What's wrong, Yuki? Did something happen at work?" Her response was to walk up to their daughter and pick her up. She cooed at her, and cuddled a bit before turning to her husband. Her voice was quiet, but it did nothing to mask the frozen rage that consumed her.

"The idiot's here. He's in your office, injured. Get rid of him." She hissed before quickly calming herself down. She stared at him for a moment. She pecked him on the cheek before turning out of the upstairs bedroom and heading towards the master bedroom, all the while cradling their daughter and singing lullabies. Married for eight years and she still blushed while showing affection, he mused. He strolled downstairs and entered the small sectioned off room. He was greeted by a shock of dyed blonde hair. The man before him was classically handsome. He was fairly tall, had blonde hair, green eyes, fair skin and a swimmer's body. And a smile so fake it made Hachi want to break his nose. The most important factor, however, was the fact that he was clutching his right leg tenderly. Hachi stared at him for a moment before pushing him into his office chair and rolling up the man's pants. A nasty purple welt ran up and down the blonde's shin. Hachi pressed down on it lightly, and a nasty hiss escaped the other man's lips. Broken. Possibly in two places, but at the very least it was a very clean break. It occurred to Hachi how ironic it was that he was now a doctor given his history.

"What the hell happened on patrol?" He asked as he sorted through his desk drawers for a first aid kit and emergency splint. He'd have to jury rig a hold for the blonde's leg for now, and re-set the bone at his clinic tomorrow morning. And manufacture a story for such an absurd break. He looked at his patient, who simply smiled reassuringly at him.

"Ah Yamamoto-kun, it was not-" The blond let out a grunt of pain as Hachi flicked the tender area. Serves him right, intentionally mispronouncing his medic's name and lying to his boss. He finished dressing the leg in silence, with the occasional grunt and hiss from his subordinate. Hachi wiped the sweat off his brow, and looked at the clock. Two hours spent in his office trying to fix this bastard's leg. He stood up, and glared at him as his sclera changed to a menacing red.

"So what the hell happened Lee?!" His voice sounded guttural, and certainly could not be attributed to a man of his slim stature. Immediately, the man straightened up in his chair, his face in a neutral expression.

"Normal patrol route followed. Encountered E88 members Stormtiger and Hookwolf at the boundary of our heavy weapons cache, along with a group of thugs. I dispatched my team to secure the area before I dealt with them. The thugs were quickly dismissed before I engaged the other two." Hachi nodded. He was fairly sure he heard his "work" phone ring earlier today, but apparently his wife had silenced it. He frowned. They would have to get this sorted out eventually, and the sooner the better.

"So what, the pussycat and bitch managed to wound Oni Lee? The boogeyman of the ABB?" He asked. His voice was calm now, and his sclera receded back to its natural white. It wasn't like Lee to make mistakes, he thought. If anything, the bastard was smarter than Hachi, and had a much more versatile ability. Lee shook his head.

"No, Wards members Vista and Gallant arrived, shortly followed by a new independent hero and his sidekick. According to our sources in the PRT, his name is Celestial. And…" Here Lee gulped. Hachi raised a brow in confusion.

"And what, Lee?" He prodded further.

"He's stronger than you, Yamata-kun." It was a whisper. And Hachi acknowledged the response. He stared at Lee for a few more moments. Lee was his "rival" since high school, in everything that truly mattered. If he said the new hero was stronger than even Hachi, the great Dragon of Kyushu, than this "Celestial" was indeed stronger. Hachi put his fist through the wall. If he was weaker, then he couldn't win. And if he couldn't win, then he couldn't hold onto his power as the top dog of the ABB. And if he didn't have power, then he couldn't protect his family. Lee looked at him before delivering even worse news.

"I don't even think I could assassinate him. When he showed up, he acted out a slapstick joke, Yamata-kun. A gods damned joke. And you know what happened after that joke? He _literally broke_ two of the upper tier members of the E88. Apparently, they've been huddled in their cell holding onto each other crying for the past _six hours_. These two fuckers are the most violent and visceral of that entire gang, people who've gut a man for using the wrong type of printer paper, and he broke them in a short ten minutes." Lee had started out as a whisper, but near the end his voice was rising, almost as if the realization of his weakness had crawled up. Hachi could see that realization strangle him. After all, they had the same trigger event, and that same sensation was crawling up his throat now as well.

"Any good news?" He asked quietly as he sat down in the lounge chair in his office. He pulled out a pint of whiskey along with two glasses from a small cabinet that was set aside for the occasion. He just wished the occasion was a less ominous one.

"Apparently we should thank that idiot Zai. His decision to run an "honorable" establishment like something out of a kid's manga saved our asses. Celestial appreciates the effort, and even loosely called you a hero for fighting Endbringers at Zai's request." Lee chuckled. Well, Hachi supposed, this at least gave them time to make up a contingency plan. He could already feel the point of the Damocles sword cutting at his chest however.

"So why aren't you a gibbering wreck right now like dumb and dumber?" He asked. Lee chuckled again.

"I seriously ought to buy Zai a gift. That monster left me alone with the three kids." This time Yamata nearly spit out his drink. A fresh sidekick and two of the least damaging wards did this to Lee? The blond man nodded and took a sip of his own glass. Apparently the question was written across Hachi's face.

"I think, and I'm not entirely too sure, Celestial might be some sort of Tinker or Trump. The girl he brought with him used an odd little watch to engage her changer form, which is obviously unnatural. What is even more unnatural is the sheer power of that form. I literally couldn't see her move, Yamata-kun. When she followed me, I barely had time to teleport. She clotheslined my right leg." Lee tapped his leg to accentuate his point. Hachi was quiet. That was definitely a powerful cape. He mulled over this new information. If someone THAT fast existed out there, he would need to be careful. His powers were strong, strong enough to fight even Endbringers. But he would need time, time that this girl would not allow. He would need a plan for her.

"What's the changer's threat level?" He asked.

"Tiger 5. She's far too predictable." Lee said. That news gave him a little more relief. Inexperienced movers were the easiest type to deal with. Even Lee was thrown around when he first started out as a cape.

"Still, not even her first day and she's high Tiger in rank. Impressive. How attached was she?" He asked, thinking about trying to subvert the new hero's sidekick. A very risky ploy, but if pulled off would be immensely rewarding.

"No, you misunderstand. Only that one form is Tiger. I'd even put it at Demon if she knew how to use it. Just from conversation I could tell that there were at least two more. And attached? I'm pretty sure they're related." Lee growled out. Hachi poured him another glass. Ah, alcohol, the world's first painkiller.

"I see." He poured himself another drink as well. The work conversation was over. Nothing to do but prepare. Idly, he wondered where he could purchase more of the drink they were enjoying. It was surprisingly smooth for its robust kick. Silence reigned for a fair bit longer as they kept drinking away the night. It was Lee who interrupted the peaceful silence.

"Your wife still hates me." The Oni said after another sip.

"She has her reasons." The Dragon commented back.

"Do you?" The Oni continued.

"Sometimes. But then I remember, she wouldn't let me hate you." The Dragon finished, a pink haired girl on the cusp of his foggy mind. The Oni nodded and mumbled.

"I didn't deserve her."

"No, you didn't."

 **AN: So, I'm a big fan of a certain anime/light novel as you can tell. The ABB characters will be inspired by that. So I guess this makes it AU. Guess that's sort of disappointing if you wanted to see the real gang, but I like those old Yakuza types in stories. Big fan. Spoiler.**

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 **I'm still trying to figure out what to do for the E88 and Coil. But yeah, we're gonna be on exposition for maybe about 1 more main chapter and maybe another interlude or two and maybe a PHO board thing for fun? If I do make a PHO board faux post, It will be in conjunction with an actual chapter/interlude. Then after that, I'm going to start the first major development. It'll be Cauldron and Simurgh related. Yay. And you know what Endbringers mean? It means I get to introduce something new~**

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 **Hope this tides you over until the next major update. :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: You guys are lucky I get so many plot bunnies .**

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Taylor sat at her desk. Thursday evening, pretty quiet, and a whole fresh slew of homework to grind through. Her Dad had taken a couple of his buddies from work out for drinks, this time as a celebration. She honestly hadn't seen him so happy for such a long time. And she could understand why. With both himself and Ben finally getting a payoff for all their schmoozing and lobbying with the political and economic elite, the Docks as a whole was looking to be on the road to recovery. And with the tax redistribution that allowed for breaks on imports via shipping, Brockton Bay was going to be experiencing an economical resurgence not seen since the 40's. Of course, the only reason she knew these specifics was because it was the topic of her Current Events paper. No reason not to take advantage of something that was literally happen in her living room, Taylor mused. She idly added her last few thoughts as specifics for the paragraph she was working on, humming to herself all the while. For a while, all that could be heard was the rapid tapping of a laptop keyboard.

"Ugggggggh. So bored…" She groaned lowly as she let herself succumb to the doldrums. Just because the topic was easy didn't make it any more interesting for her. Seriously, she had no idea how her Dad and Ben enjoyed talking about stuff like the political climate and economic rebounds and etc. She groaned. It was mind numbing just to think about. Oh god. A thought struck her mind. Would she be that boring when she became an adult? She hoped not. Maybe she could just be a full time hero. Like Miss Militia or Armsmaster. Well, maybe not Armsmaster. She could not imagine being that uptight. Taylor shuddered in horror. Apparently he spent more time acting as a security guard for autograph signings then actually signing the autographs! She sighed. Well, during her stream of thoughts, she apparently finished all her homework for the day, and now she literally had nothing left to do. Please someone save her from this! And, as the universe is wont to do, she was delivered salvation via cellphone. Scrambling for the phone in her bag, she yanked it out and answered immediately.

"Hello! Who's this?" Damn, she knew she was desperate, but Taylor honestly thought her self control was strong enough to not let it show.

"Uh, yeah. Hi, it's Vista from the Wards. This is Astro-girl right?" Taylor blanched. She can't believe Ben actually got that name to stick. Wait… Wards?!

"Yeah, that's me! How can I help?" Taylor heard some muttering and a separate conversation going on in the background. She couldn't really make any of it out, Vista probably had her hand over the receiver. A few grumbles of "Fine" could be heard after a few seconds.

"Well, the higher ups were wondering if you and Celestial could help patrol with the Wards today. The Protectorate wants to put a large amount of manpower to protecting the mayor tonight, cause he's publically signing that new tax bill, and they think it's gonna be stepping on some toes." Taylor nodded. She had heard about that, apparently it was for a show of good faith and to cement his support among the poorer populace that littered Brockton.

"And the rest are being sent to make sure the E88 pair make it to the Bird Cage, whatever good it'll do them." Vista finished with a snort. Yeah, Taylor saw how they ended up after being in Celestial's care. She was a little happy now that Ben had decided on ditching her that night two weeks ago. Whatever he did to them was not something she wanted to see, in retrospect.

"I'll be happy to join. But, uh, I'm not sure about Celestial. I actually think he has a date tonight." She finished with a conspiratorial giggle. The two weeks of reprieve from the Herd had been great so far. But not as great as watching Ben struggle with dealing with Anne. All powerful super being from another dimension, thy bane is college girl with stalker tendencies.

"Oh, are you sure? We could-" Instantly, the phone was snatched out of Taylor's hand before Vista could finish her thought. Turning around, she glared at Ben, not surprised in the least. Mainly because it literally couldn't have been anyone else.

"Yeah, no. This is Celestial. Let the Protectorate know I'm chaperoning." His dual voice rang out in his human form. Seemed like he was really trying to strong arm the Protectorate into accepting his help. Stealing the phone back, Taylor quickly changed it to speakerphone. A few more background mutters came out, before Miss Militia's voice came out instead.

"Are you sure? I mean, Vista has a point, we could probably leave Assault or Velocity to cha-" Seeing Ben's eyes widen into dinner plates was a memory Taylor would cherish for the rest of her life. He quickly interrupted Miss Militia's thought.

"I'll take them all out for ice cream." What. Taylor looked at Ben like he grew a second head. Ice cream? Seriously? What made it even more damning was the fact that the silence from the phone meant they were actually considering it. No way right?

"Cockblocker says he wants two scoops, and Browbeat wants sprinkles." Miss Militia stated in what had to be subdued defeat.

"One scoop, three toppings of their choice." And now they were haggling?! Was it too late to be a super villain? At least then the conversations would be cool, like taking over the world, thought Taylor.

"Deal. Can you pick them up around six?" Ben sighed in relief, now he had an excuse. Taylor frowned, feeling a little insulted for Anne.

"Yeah, no problem. Do you want anything? We'll probably be picking up the ice cream after patrol."

"No, it's fine, I won't be back til late. Just make sure they don't get in over their heads, okay?" Man, this conversation was giving Taylor the best idea for a prank. She grinned and rubbed her hands.

"We'll be fine. Just have fun with the pets." Ben joked. And it was now, that Taylor struck.

"Mom, Dad, can _I_ have two scoops?" Taylor asked in the best little girl voice she could muster. It took a few seconds for both adults to register what she said. The silence outside her snickers was deafening. Miss Militia was the first to recover. She cleared her throat before continuing.

"Six sharp, don't forget. Now I'm going to hang up to hopefully save some of Astro-girl's dignity." She said before promptly ending the call. Ben turned to her, face already set into the Look.

"Totally worth it." Said the smuggest teenage girl in the universe. Finally, she embarrassed _him_ in front of multiple peers and acquaintances. Vengeance is almost as sweet as ice cream, she noted while coming off her high. Ben simply grinned charmingly.

"That's what I want you to think." Uh oh.

* * *

"I take it back. This is most definitely not worth it. Not worth it at all." Taylor mumbled to herself while checking over her new combat gear in the mirror. Gone were the highly effective Galvan materials, dark colors, cool contrasts, and sweet jackets. Instead, she was now forced into a sailor-fuku, tailored out of the same highly resistant materials, but nowhere near as intimidating. A green collar with white trim and a green domino mask were now her style. Two ribbons, a deep emerald green as well, tied her hair up in two extravagantly long brunette pigtails. How her hair grew to match Ben's specifications, she will never understand. And worst of all, was the miniskirt frilled with whites and greens that she had to wear. She couldn't even properly sit down in it! At least the socks were long enough to cover some of her modesty she supposed. Last, but not least, her Omnitrix and stun baton had been transformed, into a magic wand and magical girl bracelet respectively. Oh, they still functioned, but… Star themed weaponry? She wanted to cry.

"Personally, I think you make for a very cute magical girl, Sailor Astro." Celestial complimented while smirking. She couldn't see it of course, but it was obviously there on his mouth less face. She groaned. At least it couldn't get any worse.

"Don't give up so easily, young apprentice." Celestial said as he wrapped an arm around the poor girl's shoulder.

"Trust me, we haven't even begun with the actual punishment yet." Oh god. This _could_ get worse.

* * *

Aegis, otherwise known as Carlos, sat in a rather comfortable chair across from the Director of the PRT. He rubbed his temples. Maybe it wasn't too late to try and get that baseball scholarship back.

"Let me get this straight. You want me, and the rest of the Wards, to spy on Celestial, who will be taking command of us for patrol tonight." He asked incredulously.

"Correct." Came the stern response.

"The same Celestial, who turned two of the most bloodthirsty E88 members, into, for lack of a better word, his bitches?"

"Yes." How the hell was he supposed to do that? Just from the reading of the compiled reports of Vista's, Gallant's, and Miss Militia's experience with the man, he was literally the most broken amalgamation of random Thinker, Tinker, Mover, and Brute powers. And he might even be a Shaker too, if that stunt with the car wasn't over exaggerated.

"Excuse my rudeness, but, how the fuck do you expect a group of teenagers and a preteen to pull one over on this guy again?!" Hell, Gallant had went and bought an actual safety blanket! It had a Teddy Bear attached to it.

"No clue, but that's not my problem." Director Piggot said dismissively. Aegis sighed, dropping his masked face into his palms. His voice was one of a man walking to an execution block.

"Okay, so let's assume, that the man somehow doesn't catch on, which is very unlikely according to Miss Militia's recon report. What are we fishing for?" Piggot shrugged.

"Anything. Likes, dislikes, fears, dreams, hopes, super villain nemeses, girlfriends, boyfriends. Literally anything. We just need to make sure he's willing to fight for our side, and show up for Endbringer fights." She said as she began working through a stack of paperwork. Aegis nodded. Alright, so it wasn't exactly spying, and more just trying to figure out the guy's loyalties. That certainly was doable. He nodded to himself, thinking of how to complete his assignment.

"Now if you're done taking up my time, I have to prepare for the mayor's stupid stunt. You know what you have to do, and that it needs to be done. Dismissed." Piggot said calmly as she directed him towards the door. Aegis trudged out the door, mind still focused on how to deal with this mission. Well, first, he would need to deal with Shadow Stalker obviously. No way was he going to let that girl's ego get in the way of securing good will. He'd have to deal with Gallant as well. Irrational fears aside, Dean hadn't exactly made the best impression. Carlos idly waved at some passing by PRT members as he chugged along. Well, that limits him to Vista and Browbeat for second in command. No reason to let Clockblocker embarrass the Protectorate either. He waved at another set of PRT members as they passed. Now to plan their patrol route. It was a bit underhanded, but perhaps it would be best to run the group through some gang territory to get a feel for Celestial's powers. Right, but nothing too deep. Maybe loop around the outskirts of the South side before going up Coroner St. and… wait. That's three teams of fully armed PRT soldiers within two minutes. He checked his watch. Aegis didn't remember there being a mobilization drill scheduled for six pm. Now that he thought about the time, he realized he was starving. A quick burst of flight, and he was standing in line at the mess hall. He grasped the tray handed to him by the attendant, and sat down at an unoccupied table. Hmm, turkey sandwiches with gravy. Lucky day for Carlos! Though, he did wonder where Dennis and Grant were. They both loved turkey day.

* * *

"Where the hell is Aegis?" Miss Militia asked the team grouped in front of her. Three teams of support PRT members, and the entire Wards roster had gathered on the raised platform of the PRT headquarters. It was supposed to be a way to correct the first impression of the PRT and Protectorate, and to let Astro-girl know that she still had PRT support if requested. But it wouldn't exactly make a good correction if the Wards leader wasn't present. Shadow Stalker was the first to answer.

"I'm pretty sure Crash Test thinks the joint patrol was planned for tomorrow." Miss Militia sighed. Of course. In all honesty, the irony of the leader of the Wards being the most unorganized person Hannah met in her life should have been something hilarious. If she wasn't the one being boned by it.

"Ah, Miss Militia. A few of us spotted Aegis flying towards the mess hall on our way here." Said the PRT commander. Dennis decided to chime in as well.

"Oh right. It's turkey sandwiches today. I wonder if there's gonna be any left after the mission." He stated, absentmindedly rubbing his chin in thought. Hanna was beginning to wonder if there was going to be a mark on her face with how much she was rubbing it in exasperation.

"And none of you saw fit to stop him? Or remind him?" The PRT soldiers shrugged.

"We thought he was getting a ration bar. Doesn't he have an enhanced metabolism?" No, Hannah was sure there was going to be a mark. She sighed once again as she turned around. Unfortunately, the two independents were right on time, if the two people flying from the city were any indication. As they touched down, Hannah realized that it wouldn't have mattered if Carlos were here or not. Mainly because the younger of the two was fiddling with the shortest skirt Hannah had ever seen in her life.

"I _cannot_ believe you levitated me over the entire city! What if some perv looked up?!" She was yelling in frustration, as her face tried to imitate a tomato. The black outfitted man shrugged.

"I mean, you're going to be fighting in that too. The chances of you flashing someone is pretty much guaranteed. I'm just helping smooth the transition." He said with a completely straight face. Or what Hannah assumed was a straight face. Idly, she noted that Celestial could levitate living things over long distances. Something which was most definitely dangerous. Oh god. Damn it Dennis.

* * *

Clockblocker was a young man in the throes of puberty. Which meant that he was very interested in girls. Very interested. Of course, being a superhero meant that he wasn't allowed to have a "normal" relationship. And honestly? The Wards was a sausage fest. And the two girls that did work with him were so out of the question it wasn't even funny. One was a psychopath and the other a ten year old. Like, come on! So when he met a well adjusted girl hero around his age wearing something out of the fantasies of millions of young men, Dennis thought it was prudent to introduce himself. He walked up, while she was chewing out the guy she arrived with.

"Hi, name's Clockblocker, and since Aegis isn't here right now, that leaves me with the introductions." He said as he held out a hand to handshake. The girl finally stopped ranting and held out her gloved hand as well.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Astro." He took and shook it. He smiled, almost too easy.

"That's pretty funny." She tilted her head to the side in confusion. Cute to boot! Never had Dennis been more thankful for Carlos's chronic bad scheduling.

"Why's it funny?" She inquired.

"I just thought it was super fitting, cause you're out of this world." Dennis Linker, smoothest man alive.

"Oh thanks, I guess?" She said while giggling awkwardly.

"No I mean it. Girl, your Sailor Moon made me Sailor Swoon." Nailed it! Huh, why was it so quiet all of a sudden? Doesn't matter, time to bring it home.

"I-I-I" she started. A look of horror stretched across her red face. Of course, Dennis didn't notice it all.

"I can make time stop, but your legs make my mind stop." He said as he got up close and personal.

"Eep." Astro squeaked as she slowly backed away from the clock themed hero. He just assumed that she wasn't used to compliments.

"So how's about it? I'll be your Tuxedo Mask if you'll be my Tuxedo As-" All of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain in his right ear. And the next thing he knew he was in a headlock.

* * *

"Sorry about that, haven't gotten him neutered yet." Aegis said, napkin wiping his mouth in one hand, and Clockblocker's ear in the other. Aegis used his superior strength to drag Dennis back to line by his ear, the younger hero complaining all the while. Thank god he arrived when he did. Though, technically this was all his fault. That sandwich was so worth it though. And if he remembered correctly, there was going to be ice cream later. Hmm, ice cream. Approaching the taller of the two independents, he held his hand out, hoping to make a better impression.

"Wards Leader Aegis. It's a pleasure to finally meet you sir." Almost absentmindedly, Celestial shook Aegis's hand once before letting his arm drop to the side. Maybe he should apologize.

"On behalf of the Wards, I would like to apologize for Clockblocker's behavior." Celestial nodded once slowly. Oh good, he seemed to accept the apology. That was a relief. Carlos did not want to see his friend end up like those two poor souls.

"It's fine. I'm, I, I'm just trying to process for a little bit. That might have been the single most entertaining thing I've seen in my life. I can't decide to whether laugh or cry, because it is all downhill from here." He said, monotone and eyes gazing far past Dennis, as if he was trying to relive the moment. A girl's voice interrupted Aegis's musings.

"All of my hate." She growled. Only now did Aegis finally get a look at what the newly named Astro was wearing. In the back of his mind, he secretly agreed with Clock's tastes. Long legs, thigh high socks, and a skirt that really shouldn't be legal. He clamped down on the small whine that was threatening to escape his mouth. Carlos never knew he was a leg man til today. Time to exercise some tact.

"Hrmismrwrdslrwr Aegis." He forced out. Well, at least she giggled he supposed.

"Hi, I'm Astro. And uh, the outfit was his idea," she said while pointing to the man who still had the listless gaze.

"Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable."

"No, no. The outfit's great, I mean fine, wait, no. What I'm trying to say, is that the outfit is of no issue. It's part of being a hero. Cruel and unusual punishments and all." He finished with sympathy. He still remembers the incident with Kid Win and when Armsmaster forced him to fight in underwear. Both of them in underwear. He shuddered. That was one weird sparring week. He watched as she pouted a bit in thought before nodding in agreement. She then swiftly turned to her left and kicked Celestial in the shin.

"Yes?" Completely unfazed, he realized. Though, it did cause Astro to jump around on one foot in an attempt to alleviate the pain. That did some… interesting things. He coughed to cover up his blush, and looked away. Aegis did not need those images popping up again during a patrol. No, most certainly not.

* * *

Jesus! Apparently, Ben never mentioned that he was literally indestructible. She could have broken her foot. She hissed as she bent over to try and massage away the pain. A light voice clearing her throat made Taylor remember exactly what was going on. She quickly stood up, and straightened herself out again. Then, one of the Wards on the sidelines decided to greet her. Unlike Clockblocker's metallic clock themed suit, and Aegis's red body armor, this Ward chose something a lot less conspicuous. A dark cloak covered an even darker body suit. On her back was a crossbow, and on her hip was a utility belt with a large container that Taylor could only assume was arrows. The other girl hero held out her hand.

"Shadow Stalker. So. You like a magical girl now or something?" Taylor shook her head after shaking hands. And frowned. This was really going to mess with her rep. And now she was cold too! It was so damn chilly. She shivered. Then, a folded piece of cloth was shoved in her face. She raised one eyebrow at the proffered item.

"Take it. It's the middle of December and you're out here wearing a damned magical girl cosplay." The other girl grunted. Taylor smiled in thanks, before wrapping the cloak around herself. Shadow Stalker nodded before retreating to introduce herself to Celestial.

Taylor looked around. She had already met Vista and Gallant, and they both waved at her when they caught her eye. She waved back. Well then. This time, Taylor was going to introduce herself first! Choosing the only Ward she hadn't met before, she walked up to the giant and held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Astro, it's nice to meet you." The giant diamond themed hero grasped her hand and gave it one vigorous movement before retreating to himself once more.

"Browbeat." Sort of gravelly, but not the kind that came from being old. If anything, Taylor thought it sounded like a voice filter.

"That's cool. So what's your power?" She asked politely.

"Super strength." Frowning, Taylor tried to prod the guy for more information.

"So you're a Brute?"

"Yes."

"..."

"..."

"You don't talk much do you?" She asked. He shrugged.

"Maybe you just talk _too_ much." She giggled.

"You're funny. I like you."

"Damn it."

* * *

"So you're sure you have everything memorized? All the access codes, phone numbers, and medication information?" Miss Militia asked. Ben nodded. No, it wasn't like he was a Thinker or anything. Being handed this stack of papers was obviously necessary. He sighed. Reel back the cynicism, Ben. Can't assume they know everything about you like home, he thought.

"You're absolutely sure?" He nodded.

"Completely sure?" Yes woman! He's Ben Tennyson, savior of the multiverse. Babysitting some kids is not that hard comparatively!

"Browbeat's allergies?"

"Oranges."

"Clockblocker has a religious aversion to?"

"Penicillin, no clue why."

"Shadow Stalker has?"

"Anger issues and murderous tendencies. Check her pouch for lethal ammunition every two hours." Miss Militia nodded.

"Alright, looks like we're ready to go. The Protectorate will be back to take them off your hands in about five hours." She turned to the gathered Wards members.

"Okay kids! We'll be back in five hours, so make sure to cause no trouble for Celestial, got it?" Multiple snarky grumbles of "Yes, mom" were heard amongst the team. Ben watched as Miss Militia stepped away from the group and jumped in a nearby helicopter, waving as it took off. It legitimately felt like he was a dad. Ugh. He shuddered to try and rid himself of that notion. Now that the PRT had left, he was actually able to take a good look at the young heroes now under his command. One stealth type, two frontliners, two support types, and whatever Clockblocker counted as. Offensive support? Defensive backline? And apparently Kid Win was somewhere in the base, managing the monitoring systems and working on some things Ben was not supposed to be privy to. The kid's parents had issues with him being a hero, but no problem with him helping heroes. Fair enough he supposed. He raised his voice among the idle chatter.

"Aegis, front and center!" His dual tones carried out. Immediately the group quieted down, and Aegis snapped to attention in front of Ben. Right, he actually had military training if he remembered correctly.

"Right, so what were you planning on doing?" He questioned.

"Patrol the South side for an hour and a half, before going up through gang borders via Coroner St. Then loop back around to the city center. Most likely adversaries would be gang taggers, and the Merchants." Ben nodded. It wasn't like Ben had a plan. He was originally just going to play a game of very aggressive and possibly lethal tag. Though, this did seem a lot better. Might just get a second opinion.

"Astro-girl, Tag or Aegis's plan?" He asked her after getting her attention. Instantly, the girl paled.

"Aegis's plan. We already played tag two days ago remember?" Ah right. He nodded. Idly, he heard Taylor whimpering behind him as he refocused on Aegis.

"Tag, sir?" Was the waiting response.

"Don't worry about it." Now what to do? Well, he probably didn't need this many members for what seemed like a light patrol route. And he couldn't exactly be in two places at once without raising questions. Well, he could, but it would be very tedious.

"Aegis, I need you to pick two people to sit out this mission." Aegis could be seen frowning through his body suit. After a few minutes contemplation, he made his decision.

"Gallant and Vista. They're good at controlling crowds, but it's unlikely they'll be needed." Aegis said, nodding to affirm his own decision. Ben agreed. The two were very effective at dealing with large groups of thugs, but won't be very effective if they run into other parahumans.

"Alright everyone, get suited up! Gallant and Vista, you two go and work monitor duty with Kid Win for tonight." The two nodded in response. Gallant was all too happy to get away from Ben, and Vista was all too happy to get closer to Gallant. Ben turned to Aegis.

"I assume everyone knows the route besides myself and Astro-girl?" Aegis nodded in response. Right then.

"I want you guys to split up into three groups then. Browbeat and Clockblocker. Shadowstalker and Astro-girl. You're with me Aegis." He said while pointing to the individual Wards. It was for the best this way, when they were grouped by movement capabilities. With this setup, he and Aegis could cover the most ground, and it gave Taylor and Shadowstalker complete freedom of mobility, without having to worry about the other. And with Browbeat and Clockblocker together, they could easily hold off for as long as necessary. He nodded to himself. Time to depart.

* * *

"Hey everyone. This is Kid Win. Squads check in please." Chris said into the headset that he built. He pulled up each of the mounted shoulder cameras of each Ward on his monitors, and waited for a response.

" _Squad One checking in."_ Came Browbeat's gravelly voice. Chris nodded, flicking on their team HUD. Both members of squad one were deployed to the mainland aerially by Aegis and Celestial. They landed them in a park, closer to the center of the city where they would eventually meetup after their route.

" _Squad Two checking in."_ An unfamiliar voice stated. Chris assumed it was Celestial and Aegis, since it was most definitely a male voice. He watched as Aegis's camera scoured the city below him, before flicking on their team HUD as well.

" _Squad Three checking in nerd."_ Said Shadowstalker.

" _That's just rude."_ Another voice he didn't recognized followed up. Chris agreed. He then flicked on the last team HUD.

" _So? It's not like he can do anything about it."_ Shadowstalker continued.

" _It's still mean."_ Chris was pretty sure it was Astro, considering that Shadowstalker's camera was staring right at the other hero.

" _You sure you're not an actual magical girl?"_ Chris cleared his throat into his mic.

"Please keep this channel open. Redirect any catfights to your own squad communication lines. And then send me a recording afterwards. Thank you." Both girls grumbled at his comment before switching to local communication. He rubbed his temples. Thank god. Last thing he needed was another headache to compound on his work headaches. He heard a knock on the monitor room door.

"Come in." Striding into the room was Gallant. And food. Awesome, he was starving.

"I miss anything?" He asked as he plopped one of the trays in front of Kid Win. Gallant then sat down in his chair, opening up his Fanta and taking a large swig. Kid grinned evilly.

"Yeah, Astro and Shadowstalker made out with each other." And out came the Fanta. Oh damn it, his setup!

"Dude, what the hell! This equipment is expensive!" He exclaimed as he tried to wipe down the keyboard with his Tinker work rag.

"Hang on, they did what!?" Gallant said when he was finally done hacking up orange soda.

"It was a joke, genius. When was the last time Shadowstalker showed an interest in anyone? And in someone she just met, too?" Chris explained. Well, the keyboard was going to be a little sticky, but at least none of the monitors were damaged. That was where the real money was. He sighed. Gonna have to file another request form.

"Yeah, but I mean, did you see her outfit?" Chris gulped. Yeah, that was maybe just a bit too revealing for someone their age, but he couldn't say she didn't pull it off.

"Unless you think Shadowstalker bats for the home team, I don't see why it's relevant." Chris posited.

"I mean, you never know." Gallant ventured as he took another sip.

" _You two know you're still on the line right?"_ Came Aegis's authoritative voice. Shit.

" _I hope you two enjoyed being male. Because when I get back, you won't have the option anymore."_ Chris didn't even need to look at the screen to figure out who said that. Double Shit.

" _I think I'll bring a camera."_ Said the other member of Squad Three.

Fuck.

* * *

"Sometimes, I wonder, if whatever gave us our powers didn't also take away our common sense." Aegis said aloud as they flew through the sky. He didn't expect Celestial to respond, but the silence was a pretty damning affirmation. So it was a surprise to Carlos when he did respond.

"No. It's more or less that all of you are growing. To be honest, no one with powers is ever going to be a well adjusted individual until well into adulthood. Most of you are just struggling with overcoming the big hurdle that is the real world, and now you have powers on top of it." Celestial explained solemnly. Aegis thought about it. It held a lot of truth to it. The flew a few more blocks before Celestial signalled him down onto one of the nearby roofs. He landed with a quiet thud behind the levitating hero.

"Did you see something?" He asked. Celestial nodded. But then turned around about face.

"Yeah, but first, I want to know who wanted to contact me to babysit." Carlos froze. No way he found out this early. Bluff first, apologize second. He faced the other hero. Man, now he saw why Gallant was so afraid. On a dark roof, alone, at night, he was scary as hell.

"What are you talking about?" He choked out. He saw Celestial narrow his eyes. Yeah, Aegis wasn't fooling anyone, and he knew it.

"It was Director Piggot. It wasn't malicious though, we were just trying to probe and see if you would fight the Endbringers with us. According to Dragon, we have about a month before the next attack, and we could really use the firepower." He explained. He made eye contact with Celestial, and regretted it. It felt like his entire soul was lay bare. To be judged. Celestial broke contact first.

"Yeah, we'll be there." Carlos let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. Celestial motioned for him to come close as he crouched over the edge of the roof. Carlos followed silently, and peered over the edge. He was astounded.

"What the hell? Are you getting this, Kid?" Six Merchants grunts were transporting a large amount of luggage bags through what appeared to be a portal. But as far as he knew, none of the five Merchant parahumans could figure this out. Not even their Tinker, Squealer, had ever built something this sophisticated before.

" _Yeah, I got it. Do you know what it is? Doesn't look like any Tinker tech we have on record."_ Said Kid Win as he was rifling through the databases, trying to find a style match.

"That's because it's not Tinker tech." Celestial said. Aegis stared at him. Not Tinker tech? It was a bloody portal in a back alley!

"I recognize that tech signature anywhere. It's Galvan." Aegis was now seriously confused. Galvan? Was that a villain from Celestial's past?

" _I'm sorry, but I'm sort of out of the loop here. What's Galvan?"_ This time, Aegis was one hundred percent sure Celestial was frowning.

"Send everyone our coordinates. Including Gallant and Vista. I want everyone here before I explain it. Be prepared for the fight of your lives." Celestial said into his mic. He stared into the portal as the last Merchant disappeared into it, and it closed. Aegis heard only one word, and even then he wasn't sure he heard it correctly. Celestial had said it so quietly, it was nothing more than a whisper in the night wind.

"Malware."

* * *

 **A/N: Dun dun dun. Now, what in the world is Malware doing on Earth? Find out next time, on Off-Worlder!**

 **Spoilers.**

* * *

 **But seriously, Malware is a great villain. Mainly, because he was a great schemer, and a good foil to Ben's overconfidence. He didn't have any sort of weird obsession with Ben, he just treated him like an obstacle to be overcome. If anything, Ben tracked Malware down, more than Malware confronted Ben. And that's gonna be shown in the next chapter.**

* * *

 **Super Long chapter is now done. Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


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